A Trip to Atlantis
by mak5258
Summary: Sam and Jack come flying through the Atlantis 'gate, but how did they get there?This starts in Atlantis but will be primarily SG1. SJ pairing, of course, rated T for language. I don't own these characters but I luv um all the same: POSTPONED, SORRY
1. Atlantis

The Atlantis 'gate 'kawooshed' and a stable wormhole formed. "Dr. Weir, the shield won't engage…" the 'gate technician said, looking from the controls to the 'gate and back.

"What?"

"It just won't work…" Rodney pushed the technician away from the controls and began pushing buttons on the console, trying to fix the problem.

Two figures burst through the 'gate. One figure flew through from the top of the 'gate, landing hard a few yards from the event horizon, the other shot straight out of the middle, landing closer to the stairs than the 'gate. "Medical team to the 'gate room!" Weir called, recognizing the two figures after a moment and rushing to their aid. It took Rodney another few seconds to realize that Colonel Samantha Carter and General Jack O'Neill had just arrived in Atlantis.

**I know, I know, right now it seems like this should be an SGA fic but it'll be all Sam and Jack soon...**


	2. Telekenisahwhat?

**All right, sorry that first part was so short! I should just say that i don't watch Atlantis nearly as often as i watch SG1 so if the characters are a little off, thats why- and sorry if there are any big out of character moments because of that. **

Jack sat straight up in the hospital bed and immediately regretted it. His head felt like it might split open; he groaned and lay back down, noticing that Sam was in the bed next to him, still unconscious.

Dr. Beckett came over to him, checking the computers on either side of him and looking him in the eye, "General O'Neill, can you hear me?"

"'Course I can hear you, you're standing right next to me," he rubbed his temple. Something was missing inside his head, something was supposed to be there and it wasn't, they'd said it would be there… who's they? He knitted his eyebrows together in thought.

"Sorry, General, you woke up earlier like that but you couldn't hear anything we said."

"That's weird."

"That's what I said," the doctor smiled, and moved to Sam's bedside to check on her.

"How is she?"

"She was bruised pretty badly when she fell out of the 'gate, but nothings broken… she hasn't been conscious yet though," concern played across his features for a moment before he turned back to Jack, a smile plastered on as a cover for his worry. "How're you feeling?"

"You tell me, you're the doctor…"

"Well, according to all the tests we ran you should be feeling fine… except for the lack of consciousness until recently you're perfectly normal."

"Oh, can I get up then?"

"I'd rather you just stayed put for now, I've got to tell Dr. Weir that you're awake…" Dr. Beckett was leaving the infirmary as he spoke. Jack shook his head and rolled onto his side, watching Sam.

Her eyelids fluttered but she didn't open them, Jack got the feeling that somebody was watching him but there was nobody else in the room. Shrugging, but still unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched, he went back to staring as Sam.

"General O'Neill," Dr. Weir entered the room, standing between his and Sam's beds.

"Dr. Weir, good to see you again, how's things?" She smirked at the comment, glancing over at Sam before continuing.

"We're doing all right here, General. The Wraith are having their own civil war so we're getting a break from them at least," she shrugged, knowing that he probably didn't read any of the reports they sent through. "How do you feel?"

"I've been better," he said, sitting up, head still throbbing.

"From what I hear you've been a lot worse, though."

"True," he heard a familiar laugh. Leaning to one side to see around Weir, expecting to see Sam's blue eyes dancing with the laughter he was hearing. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't even smiling.

"General?" Weir turned around to look at Sam and then back at Jack. "What is it?"

"I swear I heard her laughing…"

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine…" _How many times have you said that?_ It was Sam's voice, but he was watching her and she was definitely still out cold.

Weir left, promising to check up on him again soon. Dr. Beckett entered shortly, updating their charts. "Hey Doc?" He beckoned the doctor over to his bed.

"Yes?"

"How long till she wakes up, do you think?"

"It shouldn't be long now, General, she's completely stable, could be at any time."

"Thanks."

"No problem, I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Thanks."

_You already said that._ It was Sam's voice again, but she hadn't moved.

"Sam, you feel like waking up?" He asked after Beckett had left.

_I feel fine; I'd open my eyes if my damn eyelids didn't weigh thirty tons…_ Jack gaped at Sam's unconscious form on the bed; he was definitely hearing her voice.

"Doc?" He called, the doctor rushed into the room hearing the tension in his voice.

"What is it?"

"Is there any reason why I would be hearing voices in my head?" The doctor looked at him, considering.

"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard when you came through the 'gate, but it was only a minor concussion," Jack was still waiting for his answer. "No, General, you shouldn't be hearing voices in your head."

"That's what I thought," he shrugged and lay back on his pillows, letting the doctor return to his work before he tested his theory.

_Sam?_

_Sir?_

_You can hear me?_

_Yeah, you're talking to me._

_I didn't say anything._

_But… you just did._

_No, I just thought that…_

_What?_

_I think we're hearing each others thoughts… You're unconscious on the bed next to me._

_How is that possible?_

_You tell me, you're the smart one._

_Yeah, but, supposedly, I'm unconscious._

_This is so weird. _Suddenly Sam was awake; she sat straight up in bed and looked directly at her former CO. Both groaned a second later, Sam lay back on her pillows.

_You've got to be kidding me…_ Jack thought to her.

_What?_

_I can feel your headache… And I just got rid of mine…_ He groaned aloud.

"Colonel Carter, good to see you're awake!" Beckett and Weir both entered the room again, smiling at the pair of them. "How are you feeling?"

"Headache," she mumbled.

"You landed hard when you fell out of the 'gate…"

"We fell out of the 'gate?" Jack interrupted.

"Well, you kind of flew out, sir, but Colonel Carter fell out of it," Beckett explained, using his hands to show them what their falls had looked like.

_No wonder my head hurts so much._ Sam thought.

_You're telling me._ They both smiled before realizing that Beckett and Weir were looking at them oddly.

"What's so funny?"

"She just… I said…" They exchanged a confused look.

"We can… hear each other… in our heads," Sam tried to explain, not having much luck.

"Are you saying that you can hear each other's thoughts?" Dr. Weir asked.

"And her headache," Jack complained.

_Stop whining._

_That's insubordination, Colonel._

_Well, you can't prove I said it; a person is allowed to _think_, you know. _

_Yeah, but I can hear your thoughts so you should watch what you think._

_Sir…_

_Stop thinking!_

_C'mon, sir, you know me… I never stop thinking._

_I'm never going to get rid of this headache at this rate._

_Sorry, sir._

Beckett and Weir were looking at them expectantly, and somewhat nervously. "What?" Jack asked, glancing at Sam.

"Well, you were just _sitting _there, what's going on?"

"Were you talking or something?"

"Yeah… tell me, when does Carter _stop_ thinking?" Jack asked them, getting the smiles he was going for.

_You can't use that twice in the same minute!_

_They don't know I already used it!_

_But I do its going to get very old if I have to hear all your jokes twice, sir._

_Tough cookies. _Sam groaned aloud at this, Jack chuckled in response, but Beckett looked worried.

"Are you all right?" She gave him a little glare.

"Do you have any idea how you can get him out of my head?"

"I have no idea why he would even be in your head, Colonel."

_Fuck._

"Hey, watch you're language," Jack reprimanded.

"She didn't say anything…" Beckett started before realizing what was going on.

"So, rumor has it that you two are telepathically connected," Rodney looked back and forth between them expectantly.

_I hate him… I hate him _so_ much._ Jack chuckled at this, wiping his face of emotion when Rodney looked at him expectantly.

"What? What happened?"

"Nothing interesting."

"Are you saying I'm not interesting, sir?"

"No, I'm just saying that you have the most boring thought process that I've ever been exposed to."

"Just because I actually use my brain to think of anything other than sarcastic retorts…"

"_That_ was out loud, Carter, I _can_ get you on insubordination for _that_," he reminded her.

"Sorry, sir."

"What'd she say?"

"You heard what she said."

"Yeah, but I meant what'd she think?"

"Ummm, hi, yeah, _she's_ sitting right here," Sam pointed out, annoyed. Jack just chuckled.

"What? What's she thinking?"

_Shut up, McKay._ Was what she was thinking, Jack chuckled again.

_You don't like him very much, do you?_

_How could you tell?_

_Oh, I don't know…_

"I'm feeling a little left out here, guys…"

_Good._ That time their thoughts mimicked each other.

"Do you remember anything about where you were before you arrived here?" Dr. Weir asked them again. They had both been up and about for a few days now, still wearing scrubs because their fatigues had been a little worse for wear after their entrance, and they had yet to find any suitable replacements.

"Sorry Doctor, still got nothing," Jack assured her. He and the doctor were standing out on one of the many balconies overlooking the city; Sam had gone off with Rodney to look at some doohickey he had been prattling on about. Sam figured he might shut up faster if she humored him for awhile.

"So, how's this telepathy thing working for you?"

"Its… interesting," he smiled. He and Sam were still connected even though they were on opposite ends of the city. She kept on interrupting his conversation to express her dislike of Rodney, unfortunately he could also hear the thoughts that were flying through her head at top speed that had to do with the technology that he was showing her. It was giving him another headache.

"What do you mean?"

"She thinks a lot more than I do," he shrugged. "My head feels very… full."

Sam lay awake in the quarters she had been assigned while they were staying in Atlantis; they planned to go back as soon as Dr. Beckett was sure that they were well, but that meant getting an idea what the whole telepathy thing was all about, and how they had ended up in Atlantis.

_Sam, go to sleep._

_What?_

_Go to sleep._

_I thought you were asleep, sir._

_I was, you're thinking woke me up, so stop it._

_Sorry, sir, it's just… I'm not sure what I think about all this yet._

_I know, I heard you._

_Okay, I'll try and sleep but I can't make any promises; you know me, I like to think._

_I'm getting to know that more and more every second._

_Sorry sir. _He could tell that she was smiling.

_Go to sleep._

_Yes, sir. _

_Are you asleep, Carter?_ He asked about five minutes later.

_I was…_

_Sorry._

_Not as sorry as you will be if I can't get back to sleep now and I just lie here thinking._

_Sorry, sorry, go back to sleep. _


	3. ZPMs

Sam was the first up the next morning, quite unusual, but then she _had_ kept her former CO up for most of the night while she thought about their situation. Unfortunately, those thoughts hadn't led to any good and she'd fallen asleep without coming to any great revelations. Luckily for her, her subconscious mind had been working while she slept, and she could remember something about how they had gotten to Atlantis. _Sir, you awake?_

_No._

_Oh, that's too bad. I think I know how we got here._

_You're not going to stop it, are you?_

_Sorry, sir._

_So, how did we get here then, Carter?_

_I remember bright lights and somebody touching my forehead and then getting a really bad headache, and then the person said something about stimuli and how we had to go to Atlantis, and then falling out of the 'gate._

_I remember the bright lights, the headache, and the falling out of the 'gate part._

_Not anything about somebody being there, telling us those things?_

_Nope._

They met in the area that had become the commissary, silently picking up the food items they wanted and finding a table; in their heads there was the continuous string of banter that had become commonplace. They got a few looks as they ate their breakfasts, sitting and laughing occasionally even though nothing was said.

"That's really weird," Sheppard said, taking a seat next to Jack.

"Colonel Sheppard, good to see you," Jack said, taking a bite of his oatmeal. "You've got good food here."

"Thank you sir," Sheppard smiled, picking up his spoon and taking a bite of his own oatmeal. They were soon joined by the rest of the Colonel's team; McKay seemed to be deep into an explanation of something he thought of as important, boring Teyla and Ronan, though both nodded when it was appropriate.

"We don't even know what the zed-PMs are made out of, let alone how…" Sam cut him off.

"Sure we know how the ZPMs work…" She started.

"No we don't… wait, you guys do and you didn't tell us?"

"What?"

_Sir, how do I know how ZPMs work? We've been working on that for months and we still haven't gotten anywhere…_

_Maybe that had to do with the whole light and flying out of the stargate stuff._

"Hellooo? Are you going to share?" Sheppard interrupted their thoughts.

"Sorry, I don't know where I got that from, but, I could make a ZPM if we had all of the stuff…" Sam got up, leaving her half eaten bowl of cereal behind and walking towards the science department.

_You're starting to remind me of Daniel…_ Jack complained, grabbing her cereal and putting it and his oatmeal on a tray to be washed.

_Actually I'm starting to remind me of you when you had the Ancient's knowledge downloaded into your brain._

_Lets hope that's not what happened._

_But there were lights…_

_I remember the lights, and they weren't the same lights as the one I saw when that happened. _

_I hope you're right._

_Where did you go?_

_I'm in the science department._

_How did you get there so fast?_

_I walked fast._

_It's not going anywhere, you know._

_Yeah, but what if I forget?_

_Forget what?_

_How to build a ZPM. _He shrugged in response even though she couldn't see him.

Sheppard and his team stayed at the table, Rodney looking slightly put out while the rest just looked confused.

"Were they like this before?" Teyla asked Rodney, knowing that he had known them before the Atlantis Expedition.

"No," he shook his head. Grabbing a ration bar he followed the General to the science department.

Behind him, Sheppard just shrugged at his two remaining friends and concentrated on his oatmeal. "Why is the only thing we have to eat around here oatmeal and ration bars?" He grumbled.

…………………………..

Sam arrived in the labs slightly out of breath and her mind racing. _Slow down, Carter! _Jack complained, but she ignored him.

Looking around the room she was surprised to see that the Atlantis team had set up their own science equipment in one of the original science labs. She smiled and walked over to a dusty machine left over from the Ancients. "Nobody's been able to get that to activate, Colonel Carter. Rodney was at it for days before he gave up," Dr. Zolenka told her, watching her from where he was seated. His laptop was hooked up to an object that resembled a pen.

"What's going on?" Rodney asked as he and Jack entered the room. "Oh, I already tried that machine, Colonel, it doesn't respond, even if you have the gene."

Sam shook her head at him, looking at the pen Dr. Zolenka had been studying.

_You think too much, Carter, why don't you just try it, see if it works?_

_All right, but it's your fault if anything explodes or something._

_I'll keep that in mind._

Sam crossed the room, glancing at Jack as she passed him. "What…" Rodney started.

"Shut up," Jack ordered. Rodney pressed his lips together and glared at the General for a moment before turning to watch Sam. Jack couldn't help but notice the look he gave her when she passed him.

_I know, sir._ Sam groaned in his mind, noticing his train of thought. He smiled in response.

"Can I borrow that, just for a minute?" Sam asked Zolenka, taking the stylus from him and unhooking the electrodes that attached it to the computer.

"Uh, sure."

"Thank you," she went back over to the device in the corner and began poking different parts of the screen with it, hitting button combinations on the control panel at the same time. Before long the device flashed to life; things all over the room started coming alive, things that the scientists had been working without luck since their arrival.

"How did you…?" Rodney started, staring from Sam to Zolenka and back. To their surprise, it was Jack that started explaining the complicated inner workings of the machines that Sam was manipulating.

"What?" He asked when he noticed their looks. "I can read her mind, remember?"

"Oh."

"Rodney, what's going on in here? The control room picked up excessive energy…" she stopped, staring around the room. Sam was still at her console, adjusting things, while Rodney and Zolenka watched things react around the room.

_Sir, can you check on that?_ Sam asked when a device across the room started beeping urgently at them.

_Sure thing..._ He went over and started mimicking Sam's motions, adjusting things on the control panel; after a few seconds the beeping stopped.

The other people in the room stood back and watched the pair of them working. What they had assumed to be a tabletop began glowing in a definitely un-tabletop-like fashion; the center of the table rose out of the edges, the cylinder began spinning faster and faster. "General, what are you doing?" Weir asked, getting nervous as the spinning section of table glowed brighter and brighter.

"Making a ZPM…" He said distracted by a new bank of lights that began flashing.

"Whoa!" Sheppard said as he and the rest of his team walked in. "What's going on here?"

"They're making a zed-PM," Rodney said as though anybody should've been able to see that.

"They're making a ZPM?" Ronan repeated, not really believing what he heard.

"That's what I said," Rodney replied curtly.

Suddenly, all the lights shut off and the cylinder sank back into the table, becoming a flat surface once again. Ronan raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. Jack had gone to stand by Sam, who was fiddling with a drawer near where she had been standing.

"That's been stuck since we got here…" Sheppard told them, walking over to watch. Sam stood back reluctantly, giving Jack a nervous look. Jack gave the drawer a swift kick and it popped right open, revealing a ZPM.

"Wow…" Rodney cooed.

"Are you telling me that we've been able to make out own ZPMs this whole time and you didn't figure it out!" Sheppard glared at Rodney.

"Hey! Its not my fault I didn't think to try it with the stylus…"

"Yeah it is…"

"He wouldn't have been able to do it anyways, there are about a dozen different levels of security codes to go through before it will even start…" Jack told them.

"Okay, so how did Colonel Carter know them…?" It was Teyla's turn to speak.

"That's a good question…" Dr. Weir looked at the pair of them for an answer, Jack only shrugged.

"I have no idea…"

……………………………………………..

Sam and Jack spent the rest of the day wandering around Atlantis, various objects caught their attention, invoking memories that they didn't know existed. They ended up in the infirmary again that night when Dr. Weir found the pair of them unconscious in one of the more obscure tech labs.

"Easy, Colonel, you've been unconscious for nearly five hours…" Beckett tried to calm her when she woke up; on the other side of the curtain a nurse was doing the same to Jack.

_Do you remember everything I remember?_ She asked him, laying back down on doctor's orders.

_If you mean the whole Ancients thing and cheating… yeah._

_We have to get back to Earth now._

_I know. _


	4. Going Home

They both had passed out again shortly after their 'conversation', waking up several hours later in the dark of night.

_Sir?_

_You know I'm awake, Sam, why do you still ask?_

_Because, it's weird, sir. _

_Tell me about it._

_We have to get back to Earth._

_I know._

_We should go._

_Fine._ The pair of them got out of their hospital beds, silently making their way out of the infirmary, aided by their bare feet.

_Other corridor, sir._ Sam reminded him as when they arrived at an intersection and Jack turned down the wrong one. Silently, they continued down the correct corridor and made it to the 'gate room without meeting anyone.

There was one technician on duty, laying his head back against his chair and spinning in circles, bored out of his mind.

"Dial Earth," Jack ordered, the technician stopped spinning and stared at him.

"What?" The technician narrowly escaped falling out of his chair when he leaned back a little too far; the pair of them had surprised him.

"Dial Earth."

_What, does this guy have a hearing problem?_

_Sir…_ Sam chastised him in her mind.

"Sir, I can't dial Earth without Dr. Weir's codes…" Before he could finish his sentence Jack and Sam had left the room to search for Dr. Weir's sleeping quarters.

"We'll be back!" Jack yelled. The technician went back to spinning in his chair as soon as they turned the corner.

"What are you two doing out of bed?" Dr. Weir asked them sleepily when they found her room.

"We want to go home," Jack told her bluntly.

_Why am I always the one talking here?_

_Because I haven't had coffee yet._

_Puh-shaw, I can read your mind, remember, you're brain is working better without coffee than mine does with coffee._

_Did you just say puh-shaw?_

_No._

_Yes you did._

_No, I thought it. What's wrong with that?_

_You just seem a little odd to be… puh-shaw-ing…_

_Shut up, Carter._

_I'm not talking, sir, as you pointed out. _

Jack sighed, turning to face Weir again. She had rolled over and was ignoring them, mumbling something about how they should go back to sleep; Jack poked her unceremoniously between the shoulder blades. "Dr. Weir, we _need_ to go back to Earth _now._"

……………………..

It took them another twenty minutes to get Dr. Weir properly awake and out of bed, then it was another half an hour before she would agree to give her codes for them to dial Earth. They arrived at heir home-planet still dressed in their scrubs, and looking a little worse for wear.

They were greeted by a 'gateroom full of confused looking airmen, Daniel, and Teal'c. "What happened?" Daniel asked, observing their scrubs and tired faces.

"We were hoping you could tell us…" Sam responded. To her surprise, Teal'c came over and gave her a hug.

_Teal'c! What the hell…_ She thought; looking around the 'gateroom it was obvious that most of the personnel were thinking along the same lines, though Daniel looked as though he couldn't agree with the reaction more and gave Jack a hug.

_Whoa! No touchy! _Jack protested, but it didn't do any good, his best friend was not to be deterred.

"What's going on?" Sam finally asked, after silently taking their, rather emotional, greeting.

"Oh no _way_!" Mitchell's voice came from the doorway, where he and Landry now stood.

_WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!_ Jack yelled in his head, unfortunately for Sam it was the equivalent of him yelling in her ear. Her head ringing, she glared at him.

_Sir, I'm just as confused as you but I would appreciate it if you didn't do that again._

_Well I'm frustrated and it usually doesn't matter how loud I am in my own head._

_Yeah, but now I'm in your head too._

_That's not my fault._

_What if it is? _He grumbled in response.

"What's going on?" Sam asked again, Jack just glared around the room, waiting for an answer.

"Sam… Jack…" Daniel cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"You have been dead for several months, Colonel Carter," Teal'c informed them calmly.


	5. Death and life afterwards

_Well that explains the touchy response… _Sam thought.

_Yeah, but how did we die?_

_I don't remember._

_Me neither._

The memory seemed to hit them both at the same time, even if it hadn't they would've experienced at the same time due to their connection. They had been beamed away from their respective workstations by Thor; the Ori had journeyed close to the Asgard homeworld and Thor had been sent by the High Council to retrieve the pair of them. They had been required to make a presentation of all they knew of the Ori, and give examples of what they were doing to stop them.

After their report, Thor had put them on a ship on auto-pilot, headed back to Earth. Thor was required to stay with the High Council to deliberate and try to come up with their battle tactics.

En route, the ship Sam and Jack were on had been intercepted by an Ori vessel; the Asgard ship was no match for it and Sam and Jack had been destroyed along with their ship. Thor had brought the tragic news back to Earth as soon as he found out, disobeying the High Council in order to bring the news personally.

Jack and Sam could both remember their memorial service; Sam's brother had been called and alerted to her death but he didn't have the clearance to come and participate, yelling at Landry about it over that phone hadn't helped. It had been Daniel's turn to say some 'beautiful things' about his friends.

Their memories then left their plane of existence and they realized that they had ascended after their death. _Morgan Le Fey._ The ascended Ancient who had bent the rules to talk to Daniel had helped the pair of them to ascend. "Are you willing to let me do something that will cause you to be immediately cast down once again?" She had asked them; of course, they had agreed. Morgan Le Fey had been the one to touch their foreheads, giving them the knowledge of the Ancients; she had promised that, between them, they would know enough to be able to defeat the Ori. They had expressed their concern; they had had problems with the knowledge of the Ancients before, Jack had been especially concerned. Morgan had explained that they would be changed when they returned, enough so that the knowledge that they would possess wouldn't hurt them.

She had left their memories intact, and had explained that the telepathy was a side effect of the knowledge she had given the: she had altered the way their brains worked when she gave them the knowledge, and that sort of thing was a natural reaction. The knowledge that she gave them would be triggered by stimuli; they would know what they needed to know when confronted by the thing that they needed to know it about. Though this had been confusing, her explanation had made sense to them at the time. They had been returned to Atlantis, first because Morgan wouldn't be cast down with them so long as she didn't send them back right where they needed to be, and second because they would encounter more stimuli there.

The pain of their death, and the enormity of these memories washed over them, both had tears in their eyes as they experienced their annihilation again. Sam leaned back against Jack, remembering their last moments. They had known that they were going to die, and he had held her, "I love you," he had whispered in her ear, but they had ascended before she could respond.

_I love you too._ Normally, she would never have told him this but, as it was, she had been meaning to say it for years and she couldn't help what she thought. And now they had been given time to live again.

………………………………………………..

They were removed to the infirmary, where Dr. Lam examined them thoroughly, finding nothing wrong with them in her preliminary exam. When their MRI's got back she became concerned, "General, it looks like both of your brains are working at their full capacity..."

"Is that a bad thing?"

_The average person only uses about 10 of their brain, sir._

_Oh; why do we have the rest of the brain then?_

_Well, if we're descendants of the Ancients and the Ancients used all of their brains it would only make sense that we have similar brain-makeup. _

_I guess._

"Well, it's not normal… I want to run a few more tests," the doctor decided, not realizing the discussion that was going on.

_Oh great, more needles._

_Sir, its better than being dead._

_Agreed. _They smiled at each other before returning their attention back to Dr. Lam's questions.

"Have either of you been experiencing anything out of the ordinary… headaches… anything like that?" They exchanged a glance.

_Let's not tell her just yet._

_Why not? We'll have to tell them eventually._

_Yeah, but if we tell her she'll have a field day and run even more tests._

_Alright, sir, I can wait. _He smiled at her before answering the doctor's question, "No, ma'am, just the usual back-from-the-dead headache." Dr. Lam gave them an odd look, she was used to her patients illnesses being a little out of the ordinary but both of these people had physically died before and been resuscitated by a sarcophagus or other means; it was a little discerning to know somebody who could say 'just the usual back from the dead headache' and be serious.

She returned with her new test results almost an hour later, requesting that they accompany her to the briefing room while she gave her report. Bored out of their minds in the infirmary both were happy for the distraction a briefing would cause; their thoughts were beginning to annoy each other.

………………………….

"Physically, both of them are in perfect health, nothing out of the usual, however I'm concerned about their brain activity," Dr. Lam explained to the group that had gathered in the briefing room. Landry was in his usual spot at the head of the table, Jack and Sam had seated themselves on either side of him, facing each other, Teal'c was next to Sam, and Daniel was next to Jack, Mitchell and Vala were across from each other, filling up the last two chairs along the sides of the table; Dr. Lam had taken the opposite end of the table, as far away from her father as she could manage.

"But…" Daniel supplied, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

_C'mon, Daniel. Let's be positive here, for once. One of these days you're going to ask that that it's just going to be it, we're actually going to be okay…_

_Sir, since when is anything that simple?_

_That's why I said 'one of these days.'_

_Sorry, sir, I wasn't paying that close attention; we're supposed to be in a briefing._

_Yeah, about our health; we're healthy, that's all I need to know. _

_But…_

_Shhh, Carter, I'm trying to listen to the briefing._ Rolling her eyes, Sam directed her attention back to Dr. Lam.

"_But,_" she continued, "they both have an extremely high live of brain activity. The only time we've ever seen any activity like this is when General O'Neill had the repository of the Ancients knowledge downloaded into his brain."

"Are you saying that they're going to go Ancient on us?" Mitchell asked, glancing at the pair of them.

"What are you talking about?" Vala hadn't read all the files, and didn't plan to, especially not when Mitchell was always around to explain the things she didn't know.

"SG1 found this thing that…"

"Sucks your head and puts the all the stuff the Ancients knew into your brain," Jack supplied.

"Yeah," Mitchell shrugged.

"Sounds valuable…"

"Yeah, only it almost killed Jack both times it happened to him," Daniel said, giving Vala a 'don't even think about it' look. Vala shrugged, ignoring him.

_Sam, I'm fine._ Jack assured her.

_What?_

_You were remembering those times and you got a… look on your face._

_Sorry._

_Don't apologize. _Sam studied her hands on the table, trying to keep her mind blank.

_I thought I would loose you…_ He could barely hear the thought, but he caught it.

_I wish I could give you a hug._

_What?_

_What?_

_Did you just say…?_

_Yeah, well… I can't exactly edit what you get… _He shrugged.

"What?" Daniel asked him, noticing the shrug.

"What?" Jack responded, glad for the distraction.

"You just shrugged."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't!"

_Why do you always do this?_ Sam would've rolled her eyes.

_Its fun, Carter. You should try it sometime._ That time she did roll her eyes.

"Are you two having a conversation or something?" Daniel asked them, glancing from one to the other.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you keep staring at each other and… shrugging and stuff," he looked closer. Sam had a slightly guilty look while Jack had put up his soldier's mask, always a sure sign that he was hiding something.

"I didn't hear them talking," Vala informed them.

"Telepathy would explain the heightened brain activity…" Dr. Lam suggested.

_I told you we should've just told them, now they'll think we were hiding it on purpose._

_Well we were._

_Yeah, but just because we had no idea how to tell them…_

"You're doing it again!" Daniel almost whined.

"Ohfercyrinoutloud, Daniel," Jack said at the same moment that Sam pushed back in her chair to look at him restlessly.

"There really is a… connection… isn't there?" Daniel didn't stop.

"Yeah…" Sam said reluctantly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dr. Lam asked, narrowing her eyes in an accusing fashion.

"Well, what were we supposed to say, 'oh by the way, we can hear each others thoughts…'?" Jack rolled his eyes at the doctor.

"That would've worked. It explains your MRI's."

"I believe that O'Neill and Colonel Carter should explain what they remember of the events that led to their return," Teal'c said, looking at his friends in anticipation.

_Where to start? _Sam sighed.

_I'll agree with you there._

_You usually do, sir._

_Hey!_

_Sorry, I can't help what I think. _Jack sighed and they began their story.

"It was Morgan Le Fey…" Sam started.

"I thought so," Daniel interjected.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Jack asked tersely.

"Sorry."

_Go ahead._

_Thank you, sir. _He smiled and she continued, "Morgan Le Fey helped us to ascend when the Ori destroyed the ship. She told us that she could give us what we needed to defeat the Ori if we were willing to be cast down immediately after she gave it to us…"

"Of course we were perfectly willing for that…"

"Right, she touched our heads and then…

"Our heads got very full…"

"Yeah, she told us that the knowledge would mostly remain locked away until we encountered stimuli that would trigger the memories and we'd be able to use them."

"In Atlantis, Sam saw a machine that they hadn't been able to get working and she pushed a few buttons and she made a ZPM."

"_You made a ZPM?_" Daniel asked, his mind listing all the possible uses for it before Sam could nod affirmation.

"What's a ZPM?" Vala asked, feeling out of the loop for the second time in one briefing was not something she liked.

"A zero-point module; it's a power source for Ancient technology," Mitchell informed her, ready with the information as usual.

"Oh."

"What else did you do?" Daniel asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"Not much, Morgan Le Fey had sent us to Atlantis because there would be more stimuli there, but also because she would be destroyed by the others if she sent us directly back to where we needed to be; last night we both woke up and got this extreme urge to come back to Earth," Sam finished their story.

"Do you think something is going to happen that you had to be here for?"

"Haven't a clue," Jack smiled, leaning back in his chair and reminding Sam of the 'gate technician in Atlantis.

_I do _not_ look like that._ He insisted.

_Yes you do, sir._

_I'm not planning on spinning, _or_ tipping over. _

_Well, if you keep leaning back you might tip over whether you plan on it or not._ He sat up and glared at her.

_You always spoil the fun_

Daniel was watching them with an envious look on his face, "What's going on?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I mean, you're obviously talking… thinking about something…"

"When does she _stop_ thinking, Daniel?"

_Oh, c'mon, sir! How many times are you going to use that?_

_As many times as I feel like it._

_It's annoying. _Unfortunately, the word 'flattering' also passed through her mind, and Jack knew she wasn't really that upset.

"Good point."

"What?" Jack had completely forgotten what they were talking about.

_Now you've distracted me!_

_Not my fault you keep talking about me._

_Well, I happen to be able to hear your thoughts so its kind of hard not for you to come up._

_Sure._

"What do you mean, what?" Daniel looked annoyed.

"Never mind," Sam said for Jack, who was still going on about how difficult it was to get somebody out of your head when they were literally in your head.

"What?" Now Daniel was confused.

"This is going to be fun!" Mitchell decided.

"Indeed."


	6. Headaches, among other things

Jack had left the base almost an hour ago, leaving Sam to go through the things that had been piling up in the science labs. Her own lab had been cleared out shortly following her death, most of her 'doohickeys' had been moved to the lab that Dr. Lee and a few other scientists shared.

_Need anything at your house before I come back?_ Jack asked, the farther apart they got the more control they had over what thoughts the other heard. This was good, especially for Jack, because Sam was in 'doohickey' mode and her thoughts were going a mile a minute about things that would give him a whopper of a headache.

_No, I want to go check out my house later on._

_They had all my stuff boxed up, furniture covered in sheets, nothing on the walls… everything was dusty._

_Well, if we've been gone for a month…_

_I know, they'd turned off the power though! I had to dig through those boxes for a flashlight before I could do anything else. _

_I remember, sir, you complained about that._

_I did not!_

_You did too._

_Did not!_

_Did too!_

"Uh, Colonel Carter?" Dr. Lee asked, she had stopped reading the report he had given her and was sitting on her stool with her arms crossed like a stubborn child.

"Yeah?" _Now look what you've made me do!_

_It's not my fault you let me distract you._

_Well, you were the one distracting me._

_I told you, you should've come with me._

_Who knows what would've happened then…_

_Did you just think what I think you thought?_

_Sir…_

_Sam…_

_I need to get back to work,_ she ignored the rest of his attempts to get her attention.

"What's going on with you, you were never this distractible before…"

"Well, you try having General O'Neill in your head and see how distractible you are."

"Touchy…" Dr. Lee complained.

_Look what you've done to me!_ Sam cried to Jack, who laughed.

_Why is everything always my fault? You need to relax anyways._

_Relaxing isn't my problem._

_Prove it._

_Maybe I will._

"Sorry, doctor, it's just hard to concentrate and hold a conversation at the same time."

"Well, you could just stop having the conversation," he was still a little offended by her outburst.

"He's in my head, Dr. Lee, I don't have a choice," she was glad when Daniel interrupted their conversation.

"Sam! I've been looking for you."

"What's up?"

"Oh, um, I need you to come and look at a book I found in Merlin's library, see if there are any of those stimuli…"

"Sure."

"I'll just stay here then, keep working," Dr. Lee said to their retreating backs.

"So, how are you doing?" Daniel asked as they walked to his lab.

"I'm fine," Sam glanced at him, he looked caught between excitement and anxiety. "What's on your mind?"

"It's just… weird, getting you back."

"Now you know how we felt whenever you died and came back," she got a laugh out of that, breaking some of the tension.

"So what's it like?"

"What?"

_Sam, you know perfectly well what he's talking about!_

_Shouldn't you be paying attention to the road?_

_Would the Ancients let me die?_

_If you were stupid enough to get into a car crash, especially when there's so many other, more important, things you could be doing when you die (again)…_

_Are you saying I'm stupid?_

"Having Jack's thoughts in your head."

"It's annoying."

_Hey!_

_Sir, you sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' whenever I'm in the bathroom._

_That's a courtesy distraction!_

_And I appreciate that but… You need a new song._

_Well, 'It's a Small World After All' would stick. _Sam chuckled.

"What?"

"He's being annoying again."

_I am not being annoying!_

_Mind your own business._

_You're talking about me!_

"This is weird," Daniel commented.

"Tell me about it."


	7. Deeper Connections

"Well, I was never there anyways… Maybe I'll just sell the house and get a storage space or something…" Jack said to Landry. It had been almost two weeks since they had arrived from Atlantis. Atlantis had been contacted for more information concerning their return, but there was no more information; they were just as surprised as Sam and Jack had been when they'd found out that the pair of them had been dead, something that had _definitely_ been left out of the reports.

"That would make sense, you're hardly ever in Colorado anymore… when are you going back to Washington, by the way?"

"Trying to get rid of me, Hank?"

"No, sir; just tired of getting daily calls from the President."

"I'll probably leave after SG1 gets back…"

"Can you still hear her thoughts…? She's halfway across the galaxy right now."

"No, that stopped as soon as the 'gate closed behind them," nothing would've given it away, but Jack missed having the constant companionship of Sam's thoughts.

"A welcome relief, no doubt."

"It's the first time in a week that I haven't had a headache when I woke up," he smiled, it was true. He didn't mind the headaches that much though.

_UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!_ The emergency lights began flashing and alarms went off before all power was cut from the base. General confusion followed, a few collisions in the hallway, and a general uproar from Dr. Lam- Siler was scheduled for an x-ray that would need the power that had just shut off.

The two Generals made their way to the control room without much trouble. Everything had shut off in the control room, the iris was closed, the familiar blue glow was the only light in the two rooms.

"Chief?" Landry asked at the same time Jack said, "Walter?"

Walter spun his chair around, showing them his hands, "I have no idea what's going on, sirs."

Multiple impacts on the iris reminded them of the desperate situation.

_I wish Carter were here._ Jack thought to himself.

_Why?_ The familiar voice asked in his head.

_Hey! You're the one dialed in?_

_Yeah, but we're not doing too well. We're under fire, the 'gate was hit and the wormhole looks a little iffy._

_A little iffy?_

_Yeah._

_I would never have expected you to say that._

_Well, sir, I'm not sure what the technical term for it is…_ He was suddenly looking out of her eyes, staff blasts exploded around them; most of them struck the 'gate and the event horizon, but one had taken Daniel on the right side of his chest. Sam had stopped returning fire and was pressing her jacket onto the wound, stemming the flow of blood. She glanced up at the 'gate again and Jack decided that 'iffy' was the perfect word for the event horizon. It looked like any other event horizon, only it was turning darker and darker violet as each blast hit.

"Sam?" Daniel's voice was weak, very, very faint. Jack gripped the back of the chair he was standing behind, getting odd looks from Landry and the 'gate technicians as his knuckles turned white.

"It's okay, I'm here Daniel, we'll be out of here in a few seconds…"

"It's not all right, Sam… you never say… unless you're lying…"

"What don't I say?" _Keep him talking…_ she thought to herself. "Daniel!"

Daniel had passed out in her arms; she checked for a pulse and began administering CPR. "Mitchell, we've got to leave _NOW!_" She yelled at the man who was covering her six.

"I'm aware of that, but look at the 'gate…"

"We are no longer able to access the DHD," Teal'c pointed out.

"Personally, right now, I don't really mind what color the event horizon is just so long as I step through it and I'm not here," Vala told them, heading toward the 'gate.

_The iris won't open!_ Jack yelled in warning, Sam grabbed Vala and pulled her back, letting Mitchell take over on the CPR.

"The iris isn't open yet… all the computers are down."

"How would you know that?"

"The 'gate is open; I can hear his thoughts again"

"Oh, right," the rest of the team had quickly forgotten Sam's ability in their search for Merlin's weapon.

Unfortunately, this planet had been another dead end, a dead end full of angry jaffa. None of the tauri had realized the propaganda that had been spread across Dakara before it's destruction; the tauri were out of the good graces of more than half the free jaffa. They had run into one such sect in a village on this planet; it hadn't been pleasant and had led to their current predicament.

_Sir, you need to manually open the 'gate._

_All of the doors are closed and all the powers off, there's no way into the 'gateroom._

_You could punch a hole in the window and jump through._

_What?_

_I didn't mean for you to actually do that, sir, it's just a possibility. _

_It is a possibility though._

_No. Try hotwiring the doors._

_You don't understand- there _is_ no power. Even if I crossed the right wires it wouldn't open till we get power back, and I have a feeling that won't happen until the 'gate shuts down, and that's not going to happen until you're all back here. _

Jack picked up the chair that he had been gripping so tightly and threw it through the window that was there to protect them from the various alien ammunitions. _No match for the chair of DOOM! _He laughed to himself, breaking through after his third attempt.

_It's not funny, sir. _He didn't respond, but they continued to communicate, sensing emotions rather than thoughts. He was hurried by the stress and worry that was coming through the 'gate from Sam, he was also worrying about Daniel, and the fact that his friends were still being fired upon on the other side of the 'gate. Another staff blast impacted the iris and Jack jumped through the hole that he had made, ignoring the protest his joints put up when he landed, especially his knee. He ran over to the control and jerked the handle down, something that should have made the iris open, but it didn't.

_Shit._

_Agreed. _Landry was yelling at him through the hole in the glass, but he paid no attention, continuing up to the 'gate.

_So, how do I open this, Sam?_ He was hit with a wave of nausea; his right leg felt like it was going to burn off where he stood. _What was that!_

_I'm hit!_ She cried in his head, _That's not cliche,_ he countered as his mind flooded with her pain and he reeled on the ramp. She started explaining how to get the iris open, both doing their best to ignore the pain, and Landry's ever more urgent shouts into the 'gateroom.


	8. Infirmary, Graveyard

**Yeah, so this is going to be my second chapter tonight (even though the first one was really short and this one isn't much better…, this is definitely not good for my grades… Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!**

_Iris is open, Sam!_ He screamed into her head, he didn't get a response but a few seconds later SG1 stumbled out of the 'gate. Mitchell and Teal'c were carrying Daneil between them, and Sam was being helped along by Vala. Staff blasts followed them through, but the event horizon disappeared before any serious damage could be done.

The power flickered back on as soon as the 'gate shut down, allowing the medical team to rush in. Sam was unconscious by the time she got down the ramp, and Jack was thankful for it, he could feel her pain with each step she took.

Vala looked around the room, noticing the chair and the glass first, then the small cuts on Jack's forearms and the knee he was favoring. "Wow," she said towards him, not expecting a reply. She didn't get one, he turned and limped out after Daniel and Sam, Teal'c followed him, taking his elbow and helping his friend follow the doctors.

……………………………..

The infirmary was a busy place. Siler was sitting on a bed, trying to stay out of the way while he waited for the x-ray of his wrist; he looked on as Dr. Lam urgently administered CPR to Daniel, reviving him quickly. His wound was treated, he hadn't lost as much blood as he could've, the heat from the staff blast had cauterized some of the surrounding tissues. Sam had been less lucky, the muscles of her thigh were torn apart and bleeding all over the place.

It didn't help that Jack limped in with Teal'c's help, the pair of them looking on and asking questions, generally getting in the way. After a minute, they were told to sit on a bed and wait, which they did. Jack winced when he bent his knee but ignored Teal'c's concerned look.

……………………………………

Sam woke a few hours later to a dark infirmary. She sat up slowly, not wanting another headache. She could sense Jack's presence somewhere near, but she couldn't see him in the dark. Siler was on the bed to her left, his arm in a sling; Daniel was to her right, blood had soaked through the gauze on his chest, she winced at the memory. She could see Jack's dark eyes glinting at her from the other side of Daniel's bed. _Hey,_ she thought to him.

_How are you feeling?_

_I'm doing all right… why are you in here?_

_Because you are._

_What?_

_My butt hurt from sitting on that damn stool at the end of your bed so I took over a bed of my own._ She chuckled, but it turned into a cough. _How's the leg?_

_It's been better._

_Really? Looks fine to me… _Sarcasm dripped even from his thoughts. She shook her head at him, lying back down, sleep attempting to claim her again.

_Why's Siler in here?_

_Dr. Lam has him playing watchdog. She had to go home to feed her dog… or get her neighbor to feed the dog while she's here… or something._

_I can't imagine working here and having a pet._

_Yeah, I wouldn't mind a dog…_

_I'm kind of a cat person._

_I could put up with a cat, so long as I get to stay with you._

_Excuse me?_

_C'mon, Sam, you know I can't control what you get… at least I'm honest._

_Yeah,_ she smiled. _I happen to agree._

_With what?_

_Nothing…_ she couldn't keep the truth from leaking over to him though, _I wouldn't mind a dog if I got to stay with you._

_We're hopeless, you know that._

_Yeah… not to mention the regulations._

_I'm all for screwing the regs._

_I agree._

_You what?_

_I agree. _

_Wow._ She chuckled and drifted back to sleep.

…………………………….

Jack was ever vigilant, sitting in a chair brought in especially for him by Dr. Lam, he was stationed between his two friends' beds. They both were healing surprisingly quickly; Dr. Lam suspected that it had something to do with the purple event horizon but nothing could be proven. Daniel was able to sit up in bed and breathe normally after a few days, the bandages and scabs having constricted him for the first few days. The muscles in Sam's leg knitted themselves back together slowly but surely, she still couldn't put any weight on it but she no longer winced when she shifted in bed.

Jack was their supply of foods banned by Dr. Lam. He made the quick trip between the infirmary and the commissary, bringing extra jello, coffee, and other unhealthy munchies to his friends. Of course, the trips weren't as quick as they would've been before his leap out of the window; he walked with a cane and a stiff brace on his knee by doctor's orders. He would have the brace and cane for at least another month, the only positive was that it meant that he would be staying at the SGC for awhile longer.

"I still can't believe you jumped out the control room window… how far of a drop is that?" Daniel was saying again, shaking his head at Jack and accepting the cup of coffee he was offered.

"I dunno…" Jack said. Sam shrugged, starting on her third blue jello of the day.

_Thank you, sir._

_For what… the jello? No problem._

_For everything… though the jello is quite good._

_Welcome, Sam. _They were interrupted by Dr. Lam, who cast an angry look at Jack before taking Sam's jello and Daniel's coffee. Of course, this was met with a variety of complaints that did no good.

"General, if I catch either of them with any of this stuff again you're out of my infirmary."

"Normally, I would be glad to leave you and your needles alone but…" Jack gestured to his friends, "I'm afraid I have a few things keeping me here."

Dr. Lam only shook her head, leaving the room in order to make room for Teal'c.

"Hey, T!"

"Greetings, O'Neill… DanielJackson, ColonelCarter, how are you feeling today?"

"Hi Teal'c," Sam said, taking the jello he brought.

"Better," Daniel said, taking the coffee.

"She'll have our heads," Jack told Teal'c as his friend pulled up a chair next to him.

"I do not believe so, O'Neill."

"Why not?"

"It is the opposite of what a doctor tries to achieve…"

"How's that?" Jack interrupted.

"A doctor is sworn to preserve life, if DoctorLam were to remove our heads she would, in fact, have terminated life," Jack laughed a little.

"T, it's kind of an expression… she would kick us out or something, she wouldn't actually kill us."

"Indeed."

_I can't believe he didn't know that one already!_

_Yeah, but you haven't been around as often… it's a shame really._

_I'm sorry I'm not here as often, Sam._

_It's not your fault, sir._

_Stop with the sir, nobody else can hear anyways…_

_Sorry, it's habit._

"So, what're you talking about today?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Sam and Jack both glanced up at the same time.

"You were staring at each other and not speaking, we're assuming you were having a thoughtful conversation, care to fill us in?"

"Not really…" Jack said under his breath.

"I was thinking about the purple event horizon and he was telling me not to," Sam covered.

_Good show, that's even something you'll be likely to think about soon!_

_That's why I thought of it._

_Too much thinking. _Sam chuckled.

"I'm still not used to this," Daniel admitted.

"Neither am I," Teal'c said.

"Sorry…"

………………………………………

They were all discharged from the infirmary a week later, Jack was given leave to walk without his cane but he still had to wear the brace, Sam had a similar brace on her knee and thigh to keep things in place. They walked around together often, enjoying the pace without worrying about holding the other up; Daniel walked around tenderly but not as slowly as they did. His side was whole again much faster than anything he'd ever had in the past and he only needed a light gauze bandage and to remember to be careful about his side.

_What am I going to do about Mark… and Pete?_

_You're just thinking of them now?_ He was a little surprised he hadn't heard about her brother and boyfriend, no, make that fiancé, yet. He couldn't help but think, _well, you could just kill Pete…_

_Sir!_

_Sorry… no editing, remember._

_I know… It's kind of sweet._

_What!_

_This is going to get awkward._

_You're telling me. _

_What do you mean?_

_I'm going to have to listen to you tell your brother and fiancé that you're not dead!_

_What if I just don't tell Pete…_

_You're not supposed to think like that about somebody you're supposed to be getting married to._

_Well, I'm not supposed to be thinking some of the things I think about you either…_ They both blushed. _Do you have anybody that'll want to know?_ Faces flashed from his mind to hers, but most of them came with tombstones and memories of funerals.

_Not anymore._

_I'm sorry._

_It happens… Daniel says that we have tombstones._

_We should visit them._

_It would be weird._

_Yeah, but who gets to visit their own grave?_

_It's not really supposed to work like that… _Sam was suddenly flooded with his emotions; emotions she hadn't thought could ever exist. She knew he was thinking about other things that aren't supposed to happen, and Charlie. She saw a crystal clear picture of a little boy with brown hair and his father's eyes, they were playing catch, and she saw Sarah, a woman she had only met briefly. They looked happy but then the images twisted and she saw the little boy covered in blood and felt some of what Jack had felt, she was left with the image of Charlie's gravestone imprinted on the back of her eyelids.

_Jack… _She had never even thought his name to him before. _Jack, I'm so sorry. _He shook his head, trying to erase the memories. His heart had rushed when she used his first name, though it hadn't outshone the clouds of memories that were still there.

_Everybody's sorry… It doesn't really change anything._

_I would hug you if there weren't security cameras in here right now._

_Let's go._

_Where?_

_Anywhere but here._

_Okay._

………………………………………

It took them almost a half an hour longer than normal, but they eventually made it to the surface in their civies. It was approaching twilight in the world above the concrete, the clouds in the sky shining bright reds, purples, and oranges, while the sky itself reflected those colors in even more vivid hues.

_I like our planet._ Sam decided.

_No argument._ Jack assured her, making his way to his truck and hopping in the passenger side. Sam would have to drive; she could bend her knee better than he could.

She drove in no specific direction, taking them past O'Maley's Steakhouse, past Daniel's apartment complex, and a number of other familiar places, finally they arrived at the cemetery. _Should we go in?_ She asked carefully.

_Sure, I know a few people here._

_That's kind of a sad way of thinking, sir._

_I told you to drop the sir, and it's not that sad. People die._

_Still…_ They fell silent, keeping their minds blank as they got out of the truck and walked in between the graves. _I feel incredibly underdressed. _

_You look fine._

_Thank you, sir._

_Anytime. _Smiling, they continued their walk. They passed people they had known, remembering faces, memorial services, happy moments, any number of occasions. Sam paused at her parent's graves for a moment of private contemplation, Jack hummed the USAF theme for her privacy, she did similarly when he approached Charlie's grave.

Sam stopped when she saw the grave to the left of her parent's. It had her name engraved on it, and her birthday, and a date that she could remember dying. _Oh my God._ Jack was at her side immediately, looking over her shoulder, the sharp intake of breath was all she needed to hear. She leaned back into his arms, breathing deeply.

After a few moments they walked over to where Jack's grave was, hand in hand. After looking at it for a moment Sam turned around in his arms and looked him in the eye, "I never want to have to see that, Jack," she whispered, holding him close.

_I'll try._

_You better._

_I promise._

………………………………………………………………………………

They ended up back at Sam's house after another hour's worth of wandering the cemetery. It was a beautiful place, memories under each tombstone, and the sunset was magnificent.

_You haven't been home yet, have you?_

_No, sir._

_Why do you do that?_

_What?_

_Go from 'Jack' to 'sir' in a matter of minutes._

_Sorry… it's just habit._

_It needs to be broken. I don't want you living in my head if you're going to be calling me sir all the time. _His trick to lighten their mood had worked, and she smiled at him as she pulled the keys out of the ignition and handed them back to him, pulling her own out to open up the house.

Inside was dusty and dark, none of the light switches worked, but the water hadn't been turned off. _This is weird._ Sam decided as she walked through her house. Boxes were piled in the living room, and sheets were draped over all the furniture. The bed frame and mattress stood bare of sheets or pillows in the bedroom, and the curtains had been taken down and packed away.

They limped around the house together, pulling open boxes to look for the thing that they'd need; sheets for the beds, the curtains, canned foods that would still be good. _Sam, they drank all your beer while they packed._

_Bastards. _ She joked, getting a laugh.

They settled down after a few hours, starting a fire in the fireplace and eating spaghetti-o's that they'd found. _This could almost be romantic._

_Almost._ He agreed. She turned red, having forgotten that he could hear her.

**I know it's unlikely that Sam's parents and Charlie would be buried in the same graveyard, but… **


	9. Surprise!

**So, a few of you pointed out in your reviews that Pete was already gone by the time Jack was promoted… didn't even think about this! Sorry! (Thank you Vigaro500 and Nikki!) Now here's my patchy cover-story… (I use ellipses a lot :)**

Sam was sitting in her car a few houses down from her brother's driveway in San Diego. The sun was shining, she could hear her nieces playing in their yard, and the trees couldn't have been greener. _This is awkward._ She decided. She wasn't expecting a response from the man who lived in her head, he was loudly singing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' meaning that a bathroom was in use somewhere in Washington D.C.

She got out of her car and walked toward the familiar driveway, stopping when she noticed a familiar car parked in the driveway; it certainly wasn't her brother's minivan. _Pete's here. _That stopped the singing.

_You're fiancé?_ Came his voice, he couldn't cover the jealousy.

_My EX- fiancé. _

_Good._

_What?_

_Good. I didn't like him._

_You certainly seemed to when he came to visit._

_Ah, but then you couldn't read my thoughts. _The jealousy that was reaching her even though they were on opposite ends of the country was amazing.

_How did you not know that we'd broken up… the wedding didn't happen._

_I knew._

_Then why did you say 'my fiancé?'_

_That's just how I thought of him._

_Oh._

_Yeah…_ Jack returned to his singing, not wanting to dwell on it, she walked up to the door and knocked.

Despite the fact that Sam and Pete had stopped seeing each other, Pete walking out of the rest of her natural life, he was still her brother's best friend. After he had been denied permission to attend the memorial service, Mark had flown in to watch her 'ashes' interred, and Pete had come along as moral support. In fact, they had buried a box full of sand, though nobody but SGC personnel knew this.

Standing on his doorstep was weird to say the least. She fixed her hair twice, tugged on her shirt, and poked at her cuticles before sticking her hands in her pockets. _Relax, Sam, he's your brother. The worst he's going to do is hug you._

_You don't know Mark._

_What's he going to do?_

_Stare at me._

_That's not so bad._

_You don't know Mark._

Their 'conversation' was interrupted when the door opened, and, instead of Mark's familiar blue eye, she was faced with Pete's blank brown stare.

"Hi," Sam shifted her weight, keeping her hands firmly in her pockets.

"Sam…" Pete opened the door to let her in, "I thought… we thought you were…"

"Sam," Mark walked out of the kitchen and stared at his little sister.

"Hi," she started fidgeting again.

"We thought you were dead," Pete was suddenly able to make full sentences again. Sam shifted nervously, looking at the floor under her brother's stare. It was what he did, he didn't mean it to be intimidating but it was; he had only started staring like that after their mother died.

"Mark, don't look at me like that…" He crossed the room and hugged her, for once Jack had nothing to say.

"We thought you were dead," his voice cracked. "I went to your funeral… they wouldn't let me go to the memorial service, it was classified… you had ashes… I saw your tombstone."

_And he's not talking about pizza!_

_Shut up, Jack._

_Sorry- I slipped._

She ignored him, hugging her brother back, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at Pete.

"They had the wrong ashes, the dental records they found were sketchy- it wasn't me."

"I can't believe I got you back."

"Imagine my surprise when I got back and everybody told me I was supposed to be dead."

"You've been gone for months though, where did you go?" Sam looked at her feet, she couldn't tell him the truth and it hurt. _I'm sorry, Sam. He doesn't have clearance. _

_But he should know! He's my brother, our dad died working on this… _we_ died working on this. He has a right to know._

_I'm sorry- the President won't allow it. He doesn't _need_ to know. _She let a tear slip as she told him their cover story; "General O'Neill and I were on a diplomatic mission out of the country, sharing our knowledge with the Chinese researchers working at their deep space radar telemetry station. There was an accident- they thought we were dead… We couldn't find anybody who spoke English…" She chuckled as though she had a memory of trying to tell an old Chinese woman about satellite dishes.

"Thank God," Mark hugged her closer. _I told you he would give you a hug._

_Yes, sir._

_We've already talked about that 'sir' thing._

_Sorry. _Pete was looking at her when she opened her eyes; he knew all about the Stargate Program and now he suspected that China had their own. _Let him think that. Doesn't hurt me._ She knew Jack was smiling.

"What happened to your leg?"

"It's a long story," they sat down and had a cup of coffee while Sam wove another tall tail, this one concerned a flight of stairs and a very ornery Chinese goat.

…………………………………...

Sam spent a weekend with her brother and his family, his wife was very emotional about it; Sam had been the one to set the pair of them up, ironically. She avoided talking to Pete, but he called her when she was back at the SGC, questioning until she gave him the answers he sought, leaving out the fact that she had actually died, just telling him that she'd been MIA for so long and with so much evidence of their death that they'd been declared dead. He hung up as soon as he had all the information, still not wanting to be associated with someone who had hurt him so badly. _I guess I can understand that._

_I don't think I'd want to talk to you either if you dumped me._

_Well, we're not even dating for one, and it would be awfully hard to get you out of my head…_

_I stick like that, I know. _Sam laughed as Daniel walked in.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Oh… How's Washington?"

_Peachy. _"Peachy."

"Holy crap."

They both chuckled, this time it was Jack who got a weird look from his secretary.

Business continued as usual at the SGC, she wasn't' allowed to go offworld until her leg healed, but most of that time had been taken up by her visit to her brother. Soon they were back to missions and more missions. Daniel redoubled his efforts to find Merlin's weapon in his text, often keeping Sam up to the wee hours of the morning on the day before a trip; this did not sit well with Jack. He would yell at her in her head, call and yell at Daniel, and, if they didn't give it up, call Landry and have him get them to sleep. Unfortunately, none of the extra hours proved any more fruitful in the search for the weapon.

………………………………..

SG1 returned home after another unsuccessful search for the weapon. Sam's head was filled once again with Jack's thoughts, which brought a smile to her lips every time she walked back through the 'gate.

When they had first arrived back on Earth, their connection had dimmed as the space between them grew. After a time, the space between them didn't matter, they could hear each other as though they were in the same room even though Jack was in Washington and Sam was on the other end of an open wormhole. Luckily, they learned to control what the other heard a little more; Jack no longer had to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.'

_Hey, Sam. How're you doing?_

_I'm tired._

_Any luck?_

_Not really, we found a few things that were stimuli. Want to know anything about building force shields?_

_Whoa._

_What?_

_It's like you just downloaded what you learned into my head, or something._

_Hmm._

_What do you mean, 'hmmm?'_

_I don't mean anything, just… hmmm…_

_Fine._ He locked her out of his head, refusing to speak to her. It was just as well, she had missed the first part of Landry's greeting and almost the debriefing schedule.

…………………………………………….

Sam arrived home that night surprisingly alert. Despite the rough weekend offworld she had a perk in her step. _Sir, where are you right now?_

_Washington, in my bed, trying to sleep._ His tone gave it all away. It had the usual Jack O'Neill edge, she could tell he was lying, even in thought.

_Hmmm…_

_You know, I'm beginning to hate that 'hmmm' thing of yours. _Sam chuckled, unlocking her house.

Jack emerged from the tall bushes beside her door, hurrying her into the house and closing the door behind them. _You gave me a heart attack!_ She complained.

_No I didn't._

_Almost._

_Not even._ He smiled, pulling her close. She resisted at first, backing away and finding her back against the wall. _Regulations!_ The word flashed in both of their minds.

"Jack…" The spoken word sounded out of place in her usually silent house.

"Sam…" He responded, coming closer to her, keeping her against the wall. He kissed her, softly at first, making sure that she was okay with it, but the kiss quickly turned passionate.

"The regulations…" She whispered in protest when they came up for air. _Don't stop._ She thought to him. He smiled at her before claiming her lips again, meeting no resistance when he ventured, once again, inside her mouth.

Every touch was intensified by the other's reaction; emotions flowed between them leading to more emotions, more intensity.

The kisses made their way away from her mouth and down her jaw, eventually finding her neck. His hands explored her back and hips, pulling her closer, and pushing her farther up the wall at the same time. She ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his shoulders and pulling him closer as he kissed her all over. He found her mouth again, and they knew that they were lost to any force or rule that had been keeping them apart.

………………………………………………..

Jack woke the next morning and was pleased to find a very naked Sam in bed next to his very naked self. He tilted his head down slightly and kissed her hair, her scent filled his nostrils and he smiled. _I'm _so_ glad I came to town this weekend._

_Me too._

_You're awake?_

_Nope. _He laughed into her hair, causing her to roll around and face him, kissing his shoulder as she did.

_What do you want to do today?_

_Well… it doesn't involve much clothing… or getting out of bed for that matter…_

_What about the SGC?_

_I'm on downtime this weekend, you knew that._

_Yeah, but I forgot. _She chuckled, kissing his lips this time. She got an immediate response, smiling wider, she allowed him to take the lead.

Breakfast came about eleven that morning, Daniel phoned to make sure she was still at home, getting the pair of them away from each other long enough to realize that they were hungry. While Sam finished assuring Daniel that she would stay away from the SGC for the entire weekend, Jack had found the eggs in the fridge and was well on his way to finding the bacon when she joined him.

_He's so ridiculous sometimes. _She thought to him.

_I know! I mean, c'mon, this is you we're talking about! If you're not at work by now you've either died, been abducted, or are deathly ill._

_Or I've got an extremely handsome man visiting me for the weekend…_

_Well, when this fellow shows up be sure to let me know because I want to knock him down._ They both smiled and made breakfast in silence.

_Where do we go from here?_ Sam asked as they loaded the dishwasher.

_Back to the bedroom?_ Jack asked hopefully.

_Of course, but after we do that… What happens about us at work…?_

_Well… I think I could retire._

_No! You love your job!_

_I used to, but reading the paperwork on how exciting your job is… my job used to be… isn't the same as writing the reports._

_Oh._

_Yeah._

_So… how long have you been thinking about this?_

_About thirty seconds._

_Well. Let's… I don't know. _Neither wanted to push anything at the particular moment so they just went back to Plan A; Jack carried Sam back to her bedroom and they stayed there for most of the afternoon.

_For once, Plan A has actually worked._


	10. Another Adventure

It was pure hell going back to work on Monday. For the first day in either of their careers they considered calling in sick. The only problem with that was that Jack's secretary knew where he was and would get suspicious if both he and Sam called in.

They had a long good-bye. Sam dropped him off at the airport for his jump flight only a few minutes early, they got a weird look from the pilot when Jack pecked her cheek and ran aboard the plane. Sam scowled at him, which was enough to make him turn around and walk away as quickly as he could manage without getting a few weird looks himself.

And so there she was; sitting at her desk poking at the 'doohickey' in front of her with no real interest.

_I wish you were here, or that I was there, or that we both were anywhere together…_

_Jack, you're making this even harder than it should be._

_Hey, don't tell me about hard…_ She blushed bright red to the empty lab. She'd found it remarkably funny earlier in the weekend when her thoughts had given him a little… lift. These thoughts had been a pleasant diversion for the pair of them in the few hours that they were apart, but prevented any real work to be done.

"Sam?"

_What?_

_No, Sam, that's Daniel. He's actually in the room with you._

"Oh."

"What?"

"Hi, Daniel," Sam smiled, wishing her blush would go away. "What's going on?"

"We were scheduled for a briefing about twenty minutes ago- we were wondering if you were going to show up."

"Oh no!" Jack's laughter didn't help her scramble to get her things together and follow Daniel up to the briefing room.

"Jack doing a lot of thinking today?" Daniel asked after they got into the elevator.

"You could say that," she said, almost dropping her books when a particularly vivid memory of their weekend together filled her mind.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"He's singing again, Daniel; singing and telling blonde jokes."

_I do_ not _tell blonde jokes._

_Why not?_

_Well, I happen to have a lot of respect for this one blonde I know, making most blonde jokes seem... untrue._

_Well thank you, Jack, but I've been blonde my whole life, I probably know all the jokes you could tell me._

_Oh, then I won't hold back…_ Sam groaned as he launched into the tale of the blonde and the scratch&sniff sticker on the bottom of the pool.

"What?"

"Why did the blonde climb the glass wall?" She asked him.

"What?" He hadn't realized that she'd switched topics- as far as he was aware they were still talking about her health.

"To see what was on the other side."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It's a blonde joke. Dumb blondes… get it?"

"Why wouldn't she just look _through_ the wall to see what was on the other side?"

"Because. She's a dumb blonde."

Daniel didn't get to respond because the pair of them had entered the briefing room, where an annoyed looking General Landry, and Mitchell sat waiting. Teal'c was expressionless as usual, though he did look a little annoyed, for Sam's experience.

"Sorry," she apologized, mostly to Teal'c.

"So: why do you think you two still have this connection thing going on?" Mitchell asked, not particularly eager to get to the official business of the briefing. Sam could only shrug.

"Than Ancients wanted their own little cheat down here."

"But you haven't really _done_ anything we couldn't do already," Daniel put in.

_Well thank you Daniel I feel so loved…_

_Jack-- pay attention to your own meeting._

_Fine, fine…_

"We now have an unlimited supply of ZPM's should we need any, we have the use of our own force-shields…"

"What about Merlin's weapon? We really need to find that," Mitchell pointed out.

"But the Ancients didn't even acknowledge that that existed, Daniel," Sam reminded her friend. "So I don't think they'd give us that knowledge-"

She cut herself off, distracted by something she saw under Daniel's hands. It was a diagram he'd traced out of one of the books from Merlin's library. Her mind started flashing and she went into what had become know as 'Ancient Phase.' She began mumbling to herself and Jack in rapid Ancient- a habit that had surfaced over time- and grabbed the stack of papers out from under Daniel's folded hands.

"Sam, what?"

_Is this the 'gate address?_

_Would it be that simple- just turn it upside down?_

_Well, the door to get to the weapon on Dakara was easy enough; just spin some symbols around…_

_Yeah, but that was a wall that barely resembled a door- I'm still celebrating the fact that you even noticed it._

_What about the symbols on the edges, here?_ She traced a finger along the symbols she was pointing to.

"Sam, can you read that!" Daniel seemed really excited. "I wasn't able to translate it, the symbols were different from other Ancient. Didn't translate into proper Latin, I couldn't find a common-"

Sam tuned him out.

_Is it the Code?_

_I think so._

_You should get over here as fast as you can._

_I'm already booking my flight on the web…_

_It's like you can read my mind or something!_

_Very funny, Sam. _

_I try. What time will you get here?_

_21:00 hours._

_So late?_

_I need time to convince the President to let me go back down there- I just got back. _

_But that was just personal vacation, not business._

_Actually I told him we were trying to figure some stuff out with our telepathy… stuff._

_Well that's just great. Now we've got to come up with some product for that?_

_No, I already told him we were unsuccessful even after an entire weekend spent on it._

_Well, you should've said something; we could've tried to put some 'discovery' in there._

_I think we spent our weekend just fine. Don't you?_

_You know I do._

_That's what I thought._

_I know._

_OFerCryinOutLoud- enough already._

_You started it._

_I'm a bad influence._

_That's a matter of opinion. _

Their conversation was broken when Jack's secretary informed him that the President was on line one for him, and Daniel poked Sam in the side of the face.

"You still in there?"

"What?" She asked in Ancient. Worry creased her friends' faces- memories flooding back of Jack's previous experiences. "Sorry, what?" She transferred back to English.

"What happened?"

"He's on his way."

"Why?"

"This," she showed them the image she'd pulled out of Daniel's stack."

"You can read it?"

"It's the Code."

"The Code?" Mitchell didn't sound impressed.

"Yes. When the Ancients learned how to ascend they decided to encode their most precious documents, for lack of a better word. Their biggest secrets, the things that could destroy them even in their enlightened state, their histories; all the big stuff, it was all put in Code. The Code was developed to keep everybody else out- it makes absolutely no sense to anybody that isn't… wasn't… hasn't… it's complicated."

"Isn't-wasn't-hasn't what?"

"Died, ascended, a number of other qualities. As I said, it's complicated."

"It's the Ancients, when are they not complicated?" Sam only smiled.

_Now we've got a reason for all this crap with our heads._ Jack was smiling.

_Finally._

**I'm currently suffering from writer's block on this one- email me with ideas! Where should this story go? What the hell is this Code thing i just came up with...:)**


	11. Enter Morgan Le Fay

**Someone mentioned the timeline for this story in one of the reviews (I think) and this story is obviously post-Mitchell, pre-Vala. No particular episode its after just yet, I should probably think about that..**

Sam and Jack had locked Daniel out of his own office.

Daniel had spent the first hour of this knocking on his own door, pacing in front of it, and trying to get the card reader to accept his card. Of course, Sam knew everything there was to know about the system and more so she had easily locked him out and made it impossible for anybody to fix his current predicament. Siler reported that the security cameras had been disabled the moment the two officers walked through the door of the office, and they refused to answer the phone or any of Daniel's shouted inquisitions.

_He's got to be the most annoying person I've ever met._

_Definitely the most persistent._

_Yeah, well. He loves his lab. He spends most of his waking hours here._

_True. _

The pair of them were standing at Daniel's desk, looking over the manuscripts they'd stolen from him. In plain Ancient, the words seemed to be nonsense, much as the spinning lock on Dakara had seemed. Most of it rhymed in little nonsensical verses, though the Code hidden within was far from nonsensical.

_If we have to do this much longer I'm gonna scream._ Jack informed her after another hour. She was suddenly bombarded with his memories of learning some of the Ancient language while looping. Her breath caught and she glanced up at him when she caught sight of another memory from his time spent in the time loop.

_Does Teal'c remember that part...?_

_He wasn't in the room._

_But..._

_Don't worry about it, Sam. If he'd seen it he would've said something by now. Or, knowing Teal'c, even if he saw it he might not feel a need to hold it over my head._

Our_ heads I do believe._

_Yeah, but he wouldn't know that you know about it._

_True._

_And its not like that's the worst thing we've done..._

_At least I _remember_ the... other things. _They both smiled before returning to their work. It was the first time they were together since their weekend together, even though the weekend had only ended a few hours ago when he'd gotten on the plane.

_We have incredibly busy lives._ Jack commented, following her train of thought. She smiled, wanting to lean in and kiss him, but worrying about the cameras. Sam cleared her throat and returned to their work with some difficulty. It was comforting to know that Jack completely understood what she was doing, another man would've taken the gesture to be one of discomfort, but he knew better. Of course it helped that he could hear her thoughts telling him all about how she really felt.

- - - - - -

Daniel had taken a break from yelling at his friends through the door to get himself some lunch and returned to the door to find none other than Morgan Le Fay standing outside of it. She was wearing the same white dress she'd worn in the hologram, though she wasn't glowing this time.

"M... Morgan Le Fay?" He stuttered, surprised at her presence.

"Dr. Jackson," she said, looking at him as though they bumped into each other like this every day.

"Um... What're you doing here?"

"They have locked us out."

"What?"

"They have locked us out."

"I know what you said; what do you mean?"

"The others were surprisingly accepting of what I had done. They agreed that the pair of them were the right selection for the job, even if they'd have never approved of the plan if I'd asked them before initiating it."

"What're you talking about? Wait, you didn't answer my question."

"There are prophecies among the Ancients. Most of which fell into myth long before we learned to ascend; we stopped believing in them as our technology progressed."

"That seems to happen in most cultures," forgetting the question he'd wanted answered.

"Indeed," she glanced back at the door before continuing. "One such prophecy concerned two descendants who would posses our knowledge. Of course, this was one of the first things dismissed, we created the Code so something like that would never happen. Of course, we never expected the Ori to gain enough support in the galaxy they were banished to, to be able to threaten us," Daniel shrugged and nodded at this, holding his tongue and his opinions. "The Code is a very complicated language we created from our own; very difficult to decipher if you have not been given the proper tools."

"Tools?"

"It is complicated, Dr. Jackson."

"That's what they said."

"Really? That is quite interesting..." She didn't move to elaborate, going back to staring at the door.

"So what about that prophecy?"

"The two descendants would have our knowledge and get a second chance to do what we cannot."

"That's it?"

"In a nutshell, as you would say."

"What?"

"We were acquaintances when you were among us, Dr. Jackson, a few of us learned some of your unique phrases," she smiled at him. He just stood there looking slightly confused.

"So, um... what're they doing?"

"As I said, they have locked us out."

"Well, I'm aware of that, but you can just go through the wall, right?"

"No. They have locked us out. They do not even know what they are doing though..." Morgan smiled. The door burst open a second later, revealing Sam and Jack looking very tired and slightly upset. Daniel rushed in immediately to check the safety of his rocks.

"Don't worry, Daniel, we didn't break anything," Sam assured him, though he didn't pay any attention. He carefully sorted through the piles before looking back at them. The three were standing in his doorway staring at something behind him with heads tilted slightly to the side.

"What're you staring at?" He spun around to look at the papers that had been taped to the wall. Some of them were from the folder Sam had taken the first image out of, the rest seemed to have been taken out of various folders. He groaned. "This is gonna take ages to get sorted back into the right places," he glared at his friends though they didn't seem to notice.

He returned his attention to the papers on the wall. It was quite amazing, now that he looked at it. The wall was completely covered in the papers, forming a solid block of text since all of the margins had been trimmed away.

"It has been such a long time since I have read these words..." Morgan said nostalgically

**Yeah, still not sure where this is going, still hoping for lots of ideas thru reviews and whatnot. Sorry this is so short! The good news- my computer is fixed so I can write whenever I want now instead going over to the library and hoping to find an empty computer :)**


	12. The Code

1"They don't make any sense!" Daniel complained to Teal'c in the commissary. Teal'c gave him an annoyed look, Daniel hadn't stopped complaining since he'd been kicked out of his lab. First it had been that they'd taken over his lab, then it'd been that they wouldn't tell him what the Code was or what the papers on his wall said, then it was that nothing made sense...

"It does to them, DanielJackson."

"I know. I just wish they'd tell me..."

They were interrupted when the 'they' in question entered the room. Sam and Jack had been in conference with Morgan since she'd arrived the day previously, and they hadn't eaten since. "Finally!" Daniel said, getting up and hurrying past his friends to get into his office. Both Sam and Jack smirked at Teal'c, bringing trays of food over.

"What is funny?"

"It's still locked, he'll be back in a few minutes."

"Can you not let him into his own office?"

"Don't know," Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"We're not sure how we're keeping him out."

"Did you not rewrite the security protocol on the key reader?"

"Nope."

"That is odd."

"Indeed," Jack said, imitating his friend's voice.

Daniel came back into the commissary then, looking like he was going to strangle his friends, who immediately jumped away from the table to hide on the far side behind Teal'c. "Why can't I get in?"

"We're not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"We didn't do anything to the card reader, or the cameras, but apparently they're not working..."

"What did Morgan say?" They glanced at each other but didn't say anything, so Daniel repeated his question. Teal'c turned around to observe the pair of them, raising an eyebrow.

_No, Jack._

_C'mon, Sam, it's Teal'c and Daniel, fercryinoutloud._

_She said not to tell them._

_She didn't say _why.

_So?_

_So... I like to know why I'm not allowed to do things._

_That's never stopped you from doing them anyways._

_If memory serves you came along on a few such missions yourself._

_Well- we were saving the world... again._

_Yes, but we're saving the world again here. And if we end up going anywhere they're coming too._

_Whether we like it or not._

_I know. _Jack opened his mouth but was interrupted by the loudspeakers.

_UNAUTHORIZED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION._

_Of course there is._

_It's always something, sir._

_Why do you continue to do that?_

_It's a habit, _Jack,_ habits tend to be hard to break. _

_Fine. _She cocked her head and smiled a little in response, following the pair of them to the control room.

"Chief?" Landry asked, glancing at Walter as SG-1 and Jack entered the room, Mitchell and Teal'c coming from the opposite side that the others came from.

"It's the Asgard, sir."

"Right on time," Jack said perkily, striding down the steps and into the 'gate room.

_I thought they'd bring a ship, not use the 'gate._

_So did I but... I dunno, they're they Asgard. They can do whatever the hell they want._

_True, sir._

_I'm not even going to comment._

_Good._

Sam followed him into the 'gateroom, leaving her confused teammates behind. Teal'c and Daniel jumped after them after a moment, but Mitchell decided to stay with Landry in the control room, he hadn't really met the Asgard yet.

"Thor, buddy, good to see you!"

"I am glad you are alive, O'Neill, Carter."

_Ooo, you've been updated to last name status! _The pair of them chuckled.

"Hi, Thor," Sam said.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked, Teal'c looked just as eager to find out, though 'eager' wouldn't be the word used to describe him.

"I was told to come as quickly as possible, and so- I am here."

"Thanks for coming, Thor-" Sam started.

"-we need you to look at something." Jack finished for her.

"It's in Daniel's lab," Sam led the way. Thor glanced at Daniel and Teal'c, slightly amused to hear the pair of them finishing sentences for each other. Daniel and Teal'c could only shrug, they were still adjusting to it.

Mitchell watched from the control booth, feeling slightly left out. Usually he would be down there with his team, trying to fit himself into their little system, learning their inside jokes, and deciphering their unspoken language, but not with the General there. It didn't help that Daniel, Teal'c and Thor had just had a short conversation with their eyes. He glanced at Landry, knowing the man was feeling similarly.

- - - - - -

They were all standing in front of the wall that had been plastered with the images of the Code.

"Thor, we need you to tell us where we can find more of this," Jack said, motioning to the wall in general.

"Some of it's missing," Sam pointed to the corner that wasn't quite as perfectly rounded as the other corners.

"Morgan was... recalled before she could tell us where to find what we need to complete the puzzle."

"Recalled?" Daniel was concerned.

"Yeah, the others approved of her visit, but they didn't want her giving too much away."

"Indeed," Teal'c said looking thoughtful.

"I have seen this text before..." Thor said glancing from the wall to Sam to Jack and back to the wall. "I do not understand why you would want to find anymore of it."

"Care to explain what it is?" Landry asked, coming into Daniel's lab closely followed by Mitchell. Whatever barrier Sam and Jack had put on the door no longer seemed to be in effect, though no key cards but their own would open the door, and the security cameras wouldn't work either.

_You explain,_ Sam said.

_No, you. They're more used to hearing you explain stuff._

_What're you going to do? Sit there?_

_Yes. But I'll add some things if I feel like it._

_Well, thank you for the support._

_Anytime. _She rolled her eyes at him before taking a seat at Daniel's desk.

"All right, long story short," she glanced at Jack before continuing. "We died, we ascended, we got lots of stuff added to our heads, we ended up in Atlantis, we made ZPMs, we came back here. Part of the stuff that was added to our heads was the knowledge of the Ancients, telepathy, and the key for the Code."

"The language the Ancients translated everything into when they realized that they were all moving on," Jack supplemented when Thor gave them a blank look.

"The Code reads like normal Ancient unless you have the key. The key is like a marker in the brain, various conditions have to be met before the key activates. The Ancients set it up this way so that only those they approved of would be able to translate the Code. Even if we were to translate the Code aloud to you, all you would hear would be annoying rhymes and jingles," she glanced pityingly at Daniel, who was feeling left out of the lingual loop.

"The Ancients left some of their stuff behind without enCoding it, they didn't _not_ want to be remembered, they just wanted their secrets. Especially from the Ori."

"Like that head-gripping brain-filling thing the General encountered- twice, I believe?" Mitchell asked. They nodded, and Jack received a few careful glances from his friends.

_Aww... look how much they care!_

_Very sentimental, sir._

_Shut up. It's touching._

_I didn't say anything!_

"Right, they hoped to bring the people of our galaxy to enlightenment through the clues they left behind," Sam continued.

"Why leave the Code then? Why not just have people ascend when they're ready and tell them all about it?"

"There are different levels among the ascended too," Jack said.

"Really? What level was I?" Daniel asked.

"They didn't say," Sam said before Jack could blurt it out.

"What level were you?" Landry asked.

"We weren't ascended long enough to be categorized," Jack said, picking up on Sam's discomfort. In truth they had been allowed into much higher circles than Daniel had been.

"_Anyway_," Sam said, attempting to return to the explanation. "They left the Code so that if any of them returned to our humble plain of existence they would still have access to things they'd need to know. If they were down here with us they wouldn't be able to hold everything in their heads, so they'd have to have a book to read. Not all of the ascended know all of the secrets of the universe, therefore not all of the ascended get the key."

"Makes sense," Mitchell shrugged, Sam and Jack nodded in unison.

"Doctor Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain. He stepped in a puddle right up to his middle, and never went there again," Jack told them as though it were the most important phrase that had ever been written. He received blank stares from his teammates.

"One, two, three, four five- once I caught a fish alive. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten- then I let it go again. Why did I let it go? Because it bit my finger so. Which finger did it bite? The little finger on the right," Sam intoned with all seriousness.

Landry and Thor were wearing similar concerned looks. Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Daniel looked more than slightly confused, and Mitchell burst out laughing.

"What do the town of Gloucester and getting bitten by a fish have to do with the Ancients?" Teal'c asked.

"What?" Sam and Jack asked. As far as they had been aware, they had spoken in Ancient, reading their friends a portion of the Code. "What did you hear?"

Daniel repeated the nursery rhymes to them. They shook their heads, Jack chuckled. "Well, there went that."

_How are we going to get them to go there if we can't explain why?_

_Well, they already know we have to get the Sangraal. _

_Yeah, but that wont help them understand what we have to do with it._

_They trust us._

_They better._ e .

_Of course they do!_ She glared at him.

"Care to share?" Daniel asked.

"We have to How many miles to Babylon? Three score and ten. Can I get ther by candlelight? Aye, and back again. If your feet are nimble and light, you'll get there by candlelight," Jack said, sighing in frustration when he saw the blank looks on his friends' faces.

"I am a pretty little Dutch girl, as pretty as I can be. And all the boys in the neighborhood are crazy over me," Sam tried. Daniel chuckled.

"I didn't know you were Dutch," Mitchell said.

"This is a predicament, indeed," Thor sighed. If the little gray alien was frustrated they knew they were in trouble. Jack ran his hands through his silver hair and sighed in frustration. _This isn't working._

_Agreed._

"Okay, we need to find the Sangraal, you knew that. I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, the reason why, I cannot tell; but this I know, and full well, I do not like thee, Doctor Fell," Jack sighed when he realized the last of his words had come too close to what the Code said for his friends' ears. "Ummm- We need to find this portion of missing text- that's where the 'gate address is."

"We were hoping you'd know where we could find the rest of the text, Thor."

"It is in one of the oldest Asgard museums," Thor said, glad to be able to make sense of what they said. "Unfortunately, you would have to go and see it; there is no chance that the High Council would let me remove it to bring it to you."

"They kept it even though its nonsense to them?" Daniel asked.

"Many artifacts that have been discovered over the years have little meaning to us. The museum it is housed in is reserved for Ancient artifacts; they were our friends and we try to preserve what is left of them."

_That's almost profound._

_Sir, you ruined the moment!_

_I didn't say anything!_

_But I could still hear you._

_Sorry..._

**Sorry, I just had to add that stuff about Mitchell feeling out of the loop- its something I've been wishing they did more of on the show. SG-1 spent years getting to know each other and developing their silent conversations but nothing happened with Mitchell except for a few behind-the-back glances early on. Don't read too much into the nursery rhymes, I'm not trying to be cryptical or anything there, it's just supposed to be kind of funny :)**


	13. Sangraal

**This is an alternate season 10 finale thing here, so don't read it if you haven't seen it yet!**

The town was remarkably similar to Camelot, only not. The biggest difference was that the people seemed to expect to see a small group of people in strange clothing carrying unfamiliar weapons and tools.

Sam and Jack had returned with Thor to look at the missing text in the museum. It had been an understatement when Thor had told them it would've been difficult for him to remove it because it was hell to try and get the pair of them in just to look at it. In the end, it had been the High Council's soft spot towards Jack that had gotten them in long enough to take a picture of it. After putting the picture in it's place alongside the rest of the text they had been able to find a 'gate address for the planet where they would find the Sangraal.

"You are the second group in recent weeks to come in search of the Sangraal," the librarian informed them when they arrived looking for a text with directions that the villagers had told them was there.

"Really?" Mitchell asked, trying to sound interested. The librarian didn't elaborate, but showed them a document illustrating the difficulties they would face when attempting to retrieve the grail.

The Ori arrived just as they were all sitting down to an interesting looking dinner at a local pub. _Can't say I missed the variety of the foods we find offworld..._ Jack smiled humorlessly at Sam.

_I haven't had a chance to miss it yet._

_Lucky._

_I thought youwere just complaining!_

_Yeah, about the food, but you still get to go offworld every day while I'm stuck behind a desk._

_True. _

Their unnoticed conversation was cut short when the librarian rushed in, complaining about the burnt books. "They've burnt everything, even the map."

_How the hell are we supposed to find the thing now?_ Jack frowned. Mitchell mirrored his thoughts:

"How are we supposed to find it now?"

"You're in luck," the old man said cryptically. "_I_ know how to find it."

"Oh, good. Let's go then," Jack said with false cheer. _Now we've got to drag the geezer along._

_That's not very nice._

_Well its not like he can hear me!_ She shot him a look but followed as they snuck out the back door.

- - - - - - -

They found one of the Ba'al's trapped by a force shield. Of course they only realized there was a force shield when they were trapped as well.

"I really hate you, you know that?" Jack made sure Ba'al knew how he felt about him before sitting down near the chest. Ba'al glared at him, but didn't say anything.

_You shouldn't provoke him, he's our ticket out of here._

_We know what to call the thing too though._

_Yeah, but we shouldn't let him know that we do, otherwise he'll take a hostage and force us to bring him along._

_Yeah, well. We outnumber him. I vote we kill him._

_He'll probably end up dead along the way anyways._

_I can't believe you just said that!_

_Hey, I never said _I _liked him either._

_Yeah, but you were able to cooperated with him..._

_Cooperation for a short time to save the galaxy from Anubis isn't the same as choosing to work with someone._

"Stop distracting her, Jack, she needs to figure out how to get us out of this," Daniel said, interrupting their conversation.

"What?" Ba'al asked, looking from Sam to Jack and then to Daniel. "He didn't even say anything."

_This could be entertaining..._

_Shh! I'm thinking. _

_No you're not, I can hear your thoughts, you were thinking the same thing I was!_

_C'mon..._

_Well, it could!_

"Jack!" Sam burst out, he looked startled to hear her speaking to him.

_Fine, fine..._ He held up his hands in defeat, standing to walk a few paces away. _It would be funny though. _Sam massaged her temples before calling to mind the text they'd hung on the wall and what they'd read in the documents the librarian had given them.

"Daniel, toss me a few advil."

"What?"

"Give me some advil," he passed the pills over and the general swallowed them dry. "She's thinking again," he said in response to Mitchell's questioning look. "And its all your fault," he told Daniel. Ba'al looke on with question in his eyes, but didn't ask knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.

"A wise old owl sat in an oak, the more he heard, the less he spoke; the less he spoke, the more he heard; why aren't we all like that wise old bird?" Sam asked, staring at Jack.

"Sounds about right," he said, handing over his hat. Sam walked over to the chest in the center of the force shield, setting her own hat inside next to Jack's.

"What?" Mitchell asked. Though he had gotten used to the pair of them quoting children's verses at each other, he was a long way off of knowing what an owl in an oak had to do with putting a couple of hats in the chest.

"Everybody needs to put something in," Sam said, knowing that if she tried explaining any further it would sound like nonsense to them. Teal'c added a ration bar without question, quickly followed by Mitchell's hat.

"Charity," Daniel said, suddenly making the connection to the document that they'd read.

"The less he spoke the more he heard," Sam said, nodding. Daniel smiled, adding something of his own to the box. Ba'al, however, burst out laughing.

_I don't like him. _Jack informed her again. Sam chuckled aloud.

"What'd he say?" Daniel asked, looking between the pair of them. Vala, Teal'c, and Mitchell appeared interested while the librarian and Ba'al looked completely confused. Sam just shook her head, motioning for the librarian to add something. He put his ring in. Vala put in a hair binder from one of her pigtails, pulling her hair back into a single ponytail with the binder she had left.

Teal'c had to restrain Ba'al while Mitchell patted him down to find anything that would fit in the box. He pulled a dagger off of his left boot. "Hey, that is of great sentimental value..."

"Save it," Mitchell said roughly.

"That's the dagger you killed me with!" Jack said, outraged. Sam could feel the hate rolling off him, as well as the pain from the memory. She resisted the urge to hug him, stepping closer instead. He glanced at her, knowing why she did it. Ba'al had only smiled crookedly in response to Jack's outburst.

Mitchell put the dagger in and the shield immediately fell, allowing them to continue on their journey.

- - -

"This is it," the librarian said as they came to the cave entrance at the base of the mountain. "This is as far as I dare go... I'm afraid I'm a bit too old for this sort of thing."

The man promptly turned on his heel and headed back towards the city.

_Where's he gonna go? The Ori took over the city and they're looking for him._

_I don't know, sir._

_That's a first._

_Is not._

_Is too._

_Is _not.

_Is too._

_Not._

_Is._

_Not._

_Is._

"Are you two coming?" Daniel asked over his shoulder as he walked into the cave. The pair of them were standing there glaring at each other and didn't seem to notice that the rest of the team was already inside the cave.

_Not._ Sam got the last word in before they followed Daniel into the darkness.

Challenge after challenge arose; first they followed the sound of a child, trying to help, only to find that it was a hologram. Fortunately, the hologram had led them to their next pathway. Eventually, they ended up standing before a wall of fire.

_Oh great, a wall of fire._ The General thought in monotone, causing Sam to turn a burst of laughter into a cough.

"You okay?" He asked innocently.

_I hate you,_ she glared at him.

_Then why did you sleep with me?_ She didn't have anything to say to that so she turned back to look at Daniel and the wall of fire.

"Faith..." he murmured, stepping closer to the fiery wall.

"Daniel!" Jack called out when he stepped even closer to the wall, Sam was closer and acted on Jack's impulse to pull their friend back. Daniel looked at her, a little confused, he had been expecting Jack.

"The last one is 'faith,'" He looked between his friends, trying to get them to understand his thought process. "We have to have faith."

Sam let go of his jacket, only to have Jack come to try and grab Daniel. She put her hand out to stop him. "Jackson!" Mitchell protested. _What are you doing! _Jack asked her, moving her hand away so he could try to grab Daniel.

_He's right._

_I don't see you trying it._ Sam didn't have a response for that, and she didn't need one because Daniel had already stepped through the fire. It immediately died out.

"It was just an illusion," he told them.

_Thank God. _Jack thought, though none of the emotion in his thoughts came across his face. Everybody else looked absolutely relieved as well (except for Ba'al, he was pretty much indifferent).

They were now standing on a thin platform connected to an even thinner bridge that led to a wider area with a pedestal standing in the center. On the pedestal, the Sangraal was perfectly visible.

"That simple?" Mitchell asked, casually tossing a stone down into the crevice below them. They couldn't hear it land.

_This isn't how it was supposed to be... was it?_ Jack asked, turning to look at Sam. To his surprise, she acted as though she hadn't heard, leaning closer to the edge for a better look.

"Carter?" He asked.

_What?_

"Carter?" He asked again. She spun around to face him.

_You heard me perfectly fine. What do you want?_ He stared at her blankly, and she suddenly understood. _You can't hear me anymore!_

Unbeknownst to her, he was thinking along the same path. They both turned to Daniel with worry in their eyes. "I don't like this," Sam said.

"What? Why? We found it."

"I can't hear him anymore," she pointed at Jack.

"Me neither."

"Welcome back to the real world," Mitchell said with a smile, though there was some concern in his voice.

"What about the dragon?" Vala asked, tearing her eyes of the shiny red jewel on the pedestal to look around nervously for any signs of the fiery mediaeval beast.

"Maybe he's dead?" Jack asked hopefully, following Daniel out across the thin pathway towards the Sangraal's pedestal. The cavern chose that moment to shake violently. Jack and Daniel crouched close to the walkway, putting out their hands so they didn't fall off. The others hugged the wall, Sam's eyes never leaving Jack's back. The passageway sealed itself behind them.

"Great," Jack said, coming back to his feet and getting a look at the closed doorway. "Hey Daniel! You walked through the fire, think you can walk through the solid rocks?"

"That is highly unlikely, O'Neill," Teal'c said, following his friends out towards the glowing red stone.

Daniel reached in and tried to pick it up but his hand simply passed through it. "What!" Panic filled his eyes.

"Daniel?" Jack asked, watching his friend's continued attempt to pick up something that obviously wasn't there.

"Jack," Daniel responded, not looking up.

"What's going on?" Ba'al asked, approaching them closely followed by Sam and Vala.

They all gathered around the pedestal as Daniel tried to get hold of the hologram again and again. "Daniel," Jack said, grabbing his friend's wrist. "It's a hologram."

"You knew this was going to happen?" He looked accusingly at Jack and Sam. Jack shook her head and held her hands up for both of them while Sam contemplated. They all tried grabbing the stone themselves but nothing worked.

Sam crouched down to try and find whatever was generating the hologram in hopes of locating the actual stone. Unfortunately, she received a heady electric shock when she attempted to remove the panel. She swore loudly as Teal'c helped her to her feet.

"Can't say I'm sorry to not share that one with you," Jack commented. She scowled at him and shook her hand, which had gone numb.

"I should have put you in the same cell more often, it would have been quite entertaining," Ba'al commented. They all calmed themselves by trying to come up with the most satisfying way to disembowel the fallen system lord.

None of them got to try out the methods they came up with, however. The dragon made itself known: the chamber filled with the rush of huge wings, creating quite a wind. They all leaned forward, gripping the pedestal and each other in an attempt to keep their footing. The dragon appeared in all its wrath, huge eyes glowing red as the Sangraal itself, and oversized wings creating enough force not only to raise it's body in flight, but knock those on the dias to the ground.

"Bobby Shaftoe went to sea, silver buckles on his knee. He'll come back and marry me, pretty Bobby Shaftoe?" Sam asked, looking at Jack for confirmation.

"Bobby Shaftoe's fine and fair, combing down his auburn hair. He's my friend for evermore, pretty Bobby Shaftoe," he affirmed.

Their friends just looked at each other, hoping that whatever the pair of them were saying would help get them away from the dragon.

**It was just easier for me to not put Adria in with the whole librarian thing :)**

**PS:** **I was a little confused a few chapters ago when I was talking about the timeline in one of the bold blurbs I put in: I said pre-Vala and then when I went and looked back I realized I'd written Vala in. Obviously, Vala's in this chapter too. I guess this is season 10, otherwise we wouldn't be dealing with the Sangraal thing and whatnot. Sorry!**


	14. Dragon

The chamber seemed to shrink around them as the dragon came to their level. It's breath alone could've killed.

"What have you been _eatin'!_" Mitchell cried out in an O'Neill-esque manner. Though it drew chuckles from his team members, the dragon didn't seem amused. Fire rushed toward them but something stopped it.

"Morgan don't you dare abandon us now!" Sam screamed at the air. She and Jack had instinctively raised their arms to protect their faces and, in doing so, had triggered another of their stimuli. An invisible wall was keeping the fire away from the small group of humans on the dias.

"I'm glad I'm on _your_ side..." Ba'al mumbled, getting a glare from Teal'c.

_How is this happening?_ Sam thought, madly searching for an answer within.

_I have no idea..._

_Sir?_

_Sam!_

_What's going on?_

_I'd hoped you would know..._

_I don't know everything._

_Well, let's not think about it and maybe it'll keep happening!_

_Sounds good._ The pair of them rose to their feet, keeping their hands out to keep the fire away.

"Guys?" Daniel asked. "Are you doing this?"

"Think so," Sam mumbled. They had both begun to sweat as the stream of fire continued to bombard them.

The fire finally stopped and the pair of them took a step backwards, wiping the sweat off their faces. When they looked up again the dragon had settled itself on the walkway between the dias they stood on, and the stone-filled exit.

Jack began searching the chamber for anything that could help them get rid of this very large, very annoyed, beast. Then it caught his eye; there was a small crevice about four meters over and a meter up on the wall. Something from inside the crack in the wall, just out of sight, gave off a slight red glow. He wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been in the military for so long.

_Do you see that or are my eyes playing tricks?_ He glanced at Sam for confirmation.

_There's definitely something in there._

_How do we get it without that damned dragon killing us first?_

_Your guess is as good as mine._

_Yeah, but I trust your guess a lot better than I trust mine. _Sam sighed with exasperation, glancing from Jack to the crevice, to the dragon, and back.

"Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he 'live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread!" The dragon said, it's voice grating and deep, worse than any Goa'uld they'd ever heard speak. Sam was taken aback, she hadn't thought she'd be able to communicate with the beast.

"What'd he say?" Daniel asked, all attention focused on Jack and Sam.

"I wish you could tell..." Sam mumbled, trying to think of a response.

"This is kind of your thing," Jack finished for her.

"Umm... Bell horses, bell horses, what time of day? One o'clock, two o'clock, time to away," Sam told the dragon. Hoping he'd just go away. The dragon did no such thing In fact, he chuckled. The rumbling filled the vaulted cavern, shaking the dias.

"Sam?" Daniel asked, crouching closer to the pedestal for support.

_Why don't you keep him busy while I go for that crack?_

_Why me?_

_Because I'm closer to the crack._

_Fine._

"Bat, bat, come under my hat, and I'll give you a slice of bacon; and when I bake, I'll give you a cake, if I am not mistaken," the dragon muttered menacingly. Sam took a step backwards, glancing at Jack as he edged closer to the crack. It would be a jump and he'd only have one chance to grab hold of the thing before he fell into the abyss.

_Are you sure about this?_

_What other choice have we got?_

_We could send Ba'al..._

_Yeah, then we'd never get it back._

_Oh yeah..._

_Keep him talking, I'm going to jump._

"Birds of a feather flock together, and so will pigs and swine; rats and mce will have their choice, and so will I have mine," Sam said nervously.

"Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean, and so betwixt the two of them they licked the platter clean," the constant references to eating on the dragon's part were making the rest of the team nervous.

"Is he going to eat us, Sam?" Vala asked bluntly. Sam shrugged.

"He will if we don't figure this out soon..." then turning back to the dragon she added, "If all the world were paper, and all the sea were ink, if all the trees were bread and cheese, what should we have to drink?"

The dragon didn't get a chance to respond, however, as Jack lunged off of the dias, aiming for the crack in the wall. The dragon twitched, as Sam sprang into action behind him, rushing over to the far edge of the dias to make sure Jack was all right. Teal'c and Daniel had both called out when their friend had launched himself off the platform and were now staring as he struggled to pull himself closer to the wall. His feet had found a small ledge which he was using to balance himself as he tried to find the source of the glowing with the hand that wasn't keeping him against the wall..

_Be careful, Jack..._

_What else am I going to do, be completely idiotic?_

_Well, you did just jump out over the abyss..._

_For a good reason._ The dragon was standing again, preparing to breath fire at them all.

"Got it!" Jack yelled, pulling the little red stone out of the hole in the wall. _Now how to I get back..._

"Teal'c! Get him back over here!" Sam ordered, holding her hands up to ward off the flames that the dragon was aiming in their direction once again.

"Hey Ba'al, now's the time for that name!" Mitchell said, rounding on Ba'al. Ba'al glared at him, and didn't say anything so Mitchell brought up his gun.

"If you kill me you will lose any chance of learning the name."

"I'm not gonna kill you, I'm just gonna shoot you," Mitchell said, pointing the gun at the goa'uld's foot. Ba'al didn't seem to believe him.

Teal'c and Jack interrupted this argument by landing hard on the dias beside them.

_You okay?_ Sam inquired.

_Fine, how're you holding up?_

_I'll probably loose about twenty pounds of sweat today..._ Jack smiled, getting to his feet and raising his hands to help her.

"Jack, the grail! Did you get it?" Daniel asked, panic crossing his features. Jack was too focused to respond, he stood sweating next to Sam. "Jack!"

_Would you shutup! _

_He can't hear you in here._

_Well, I'm to tired to open my mouth._

_Did you get it?_

_Yes, it's in my vest pocket._

_Good._

_Agreed._

The dragon paused to breath and the pair of them collapsed backwards again, trying to sort themselves out.

"When does this stop?" Daniel addressed the dragon.

"A cat came fiddling out of a barn, with a pair of bagpipes under her arm. She could sing nothing but fiddle dee dee, the mouse has married the bumblebee. Pipe, cat; dance, mouse; we'll have a wedding at our good house," the dragon growled menacingly.

"Cold and raw the north wind doth blow bleak in the morning early, all the hills are covered with snow, and winters now come fairly," Jack countered with equal menace. The dragon glared at him.

"Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe. Get it done by half past two. Half past two is much too late! Get it done by half past eight."

"Cut thistles in May, they'll grow in a day, cut them in June, that is too soon; cut them in July, then they will die," Sam said, glancing at Jack.

"Enough with the nonsense!" Ba'al cried out; though the other members of SG-1 would never have said anything out loud, they were just as tired of the rhymes as the former system lord. They were saved more nonsense when Jack and Sam brought thier P90s to attention and opened fire.

"Finally!" Mitchell said, bringing his own gun up. Ba'al backed up, allowing Daniel and Vala the room to fire their weapons. The dragon roared, spitting fire at them once again; Sam and Jack immediately ceased fire, holding their hands up to supply a shield. They were tiring though, the shield still didn't let the flames through, but the heat had started leaking through. This time everybody being sheltered began sweating buckets, instead of just Jack and Sam.

_I can't keep going like this, Jack..._ Sam informed him, stumbling back a little.

_We have to._

_Are the bullets even working?_

_We need that name._

"Ba'al! The name!" Sam called back at him before returning her concentration to the shield.

After a moment's hesitation, Ba'al yelled something into the noise. None of them could hear it properly over the dragon's roar and the clatter of the weapons-fire.

Whatever he said worked, the dragon stopped spitting fire at them, and sat back on its haunches. However, they didn't cease fire until Jack held up a hand.

"The cock doth crow to let you know, if you be wise, tis time to rise," the dragon said simply. Jack and Sam looked around the cavern, looking for a way out. Their eyes followed the same path, tracing from the small grotto where they'd found the Sangraal to a shadowed ledge that could hide anything.

_Is that deep enough to hide a staircase?_

_Possibly._

_We should try it._

_Do we have another choice?_

_Good point._

Wordlessly, the pair of them turned their backs on the dragon and made their way to the edge of the dias. "Guys?" Daniel's voice broke their concentration.

"We have to climb out," Jack responded simply.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Mitchell cried, adding "sir," belatedly.

"Unfortunately not."

Jack went first, throwing himself past the edge of the dias and sticking his hand into the crevice where he'd pulled the Sangraal from. He pulled himself up slowly and made his way carefully up to the shadowy ledge; his breath caught in his throat at the same time Sam's did.

They shared his view: a wide ledge with marble steps set into the bedrock. Beyond the staircase was a wall of the purest white marble either had ever seen, carved into it was the entire text of the Code. Jack clawed his way onto the ledge, disappearing over the rim and running his hands over the cool stone. "Amazing," the pair of them muttered. Sam was jarred out of her CO's eyes when Teal'c gave her a small shake. She had fallen back against his chest when she'd started using Jack's eyes and the jaffa was ready to leave.

"Sorry," she muttered, following Jack's path.

Soon she was hidden from view as well, and the others hastily followed, not trusting the dragon to hold his fire.

"In marble walls as white as milk, line with skin as soft as silk; within a fountain crystal clear, a golden apple doth appear. No doors there are to this stronghold– yet thieves break in and steal the gold..." Sam muttered, her hands following the path Jack's had taken moments previously.

"Hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, the mouse ran down! Hickory, dickory, dock," Mitchell said irritably.

"What?" Sam asked, taking her hands off the wall to look at him.

"Let's get out of here," he said just as irritably, poking at his watch as Ba'al climbed over the ledge, the last to do so.

_I suppose they'd all be tired of this._

I'm_ tired of this._

_I'm tired._

_Me too._

_Let's go._ Jack rolled his eyes at Mitchell, feigning annoyance. "Fine, Mitchell, we can leave."

"Where do these stairs come out?" Daniel asked after looking at the text for a moment and realizing that it was more Code, something he was definitely sick of. He stopped long enough to get a few shots of their surroundings with his ever-present camera, but didn't want to stick around any longer.

_Now he knows how I felt every single time he felt the need to translate some ruin._ Sam chuckled.

"Is it back?" Daniel asked, noticing the chuckle. Sam nodded in response.

"What?" Ba'al asked, receiving a glare from Jack.

"None of your business," Ba'al fel to the back of the group as they climbed up the stairs and began searching for a door.


	15. The Staircase of DOOM!

They had climbed up at least 1,000 stairs, they knew this because Jack had begun counting them aloud after the first ten minutes had passed and there had been no end in sight. It didn't even look like they'd reached the halfway point yet.

_How much longer! My knees are killing me..._

_I'm aware._

_What?_

_You started complaining about 800 steps ago._

_Well you'd be complaining too if you knew how my knees were doing... Daniel isn't helping either._

_Yeah, I've had just about enough of his questions too..._

"So, why do you think it left? When did it come back? Do you think that dragon's coming after us? Where's the grail?" Daniel reiterated the same questions he'd been asking for the past hour. Jack had refused to tell anybody where he'd stashed the Sangraal, mostly because he didn't trust Ba'al. He'd moved it from his vest pocket to his pants pocket, keeping the bulge hidden beneath his hip holster even though it was uncomfortable.

"All right, lets take a break," Sam announced, giving in to Jack's complaints. He would never have admitted he was tired, or sore enough for a break even though he was in desperate need of one. They sighed with relief, sitting down on the steps they'd just been walking up.

"Are you going to answer my questions?"

"Please answer his questions!" Vala cried out before adding, "He's getting on my nerves."

_You're telling me... _Jack sighed.

Sam threw him a look before answering the questions. "Okay, Daniel. As far as I can guess it left because we entered the cavern back there where the dragon was. It came back when we started doing that shield thing, no idea why it came back or how the shield thing itself works. I don't think the dragons coming after us," she finished.

'_Shield thing,' nice._

_I thought so too._

_I was being sarcastic._

_I know._

Daniel was obviously not pleased with the answers he got because he bombarded the pair of them with even more questions. "Shut up, Daniel," Jack ordered and his friend closed his mouth, glaring. Ba'al chuckled and found the glare redirected at himself.

"So, why are you still here?" Jack asked the fallen system lord.

"There is no other way out," was the reply. Jack snorted, disappointed that it was true.

_I'd like to kill him._

_He just helped us defeat the dragon._

_Yeah, well... we could just push him down the stairs and hope he falls onto that dragon._

_There's too many stairs. He'd probably just roll to a stop about halfway down and come up a few hours after us, out to kill us all._

_Again._

_Yeah._ Their minds were silent for awhile while they shared memories of the time that Ba'al had captured and tortured Jack. _It was my fault._ Sam informed him.

_No it wasn't. It was that damned Tok'ra._

_But I was the one who convinced you to take the symbiote._

_To save my own life._

_But still..._

_You're the only one who could've convinced me to share my head with a snake..._ The though crossed over without permission. Sam was silent for a minute. _It's still not your fault, Sam._

_It is._

_Don't..._ He looked at her meaningfully as she looked anywhere but at him.

"So tell me- what is this thing between you Dr. Jackson has been referring to?" Ba'al asked, observing their silent conversation with curiosity. Another silent look passed between the two officers, but no thoughts were needed to explain this denial.

"Let's move out, campers," Jack said, getting back up and starting up the stairs again.

_Are you sure you don't want something for your knees?_

_Yeah, it'd be a waste. Nothing will help with all these steps._

_If you say so._

They continued on, taking three more breaks before reaching a huge stone door. Daniel leapt at the sight of it. "This is Ancient!"

"Oh, good. Daniel, you figure it out; I'm going to take a nap," Jack informed them. They were all tired, but none quite so much as Sam and Jack; shielding them all from the fire had taken more out of them than either would admit. Daniel looked at Sam for some help, or at least pity, and found that she was already sitting against the opposite wall with her eye's closed peacefully.

"Gee thanks guys," he mumbled as he began looking over the text.

- - - - - -

A half an hour later they were all still sitting there. Sam and Jack hadn't moved, not even an eyelid The pair of them seemed to be out cold. Vala had joined them after ten minutes, though she was constantly trying to find a more comfortable position on the hard, smooth marble. Teal'c was standing guard as usual, watching over his team and throwing glances back the way they had come. Ba'al was sitting on the floor as far away from them as he could get, pretending to sleep, but truly watching them all with half-closed eyes; he didn't want to be left behind. Mitchell was pacing, making the process take longer with constant interruptions.

"Almost done, Jackson?" He asked again. Instead of responding, he began twisting some of the characters around and pushing them into place.

"Finally," Jack said, leaping to his feet as though he'd been awake the whole time. He walked over and helped Sam to her feet, kicking Vala gently to get her moving.

The door swung open, revealing the town square full of Ori soldiers.

**I know its short, please don't shoot!**


	16. Prisoners

_Still loving being offworld again, sir?_

_Well, at least it's more exciting than sitting behind a desk._

_Yeah, well, sitting in a jail cell isn't very much fun._

_True._

The stairway had exited into the town square. At one point in time, it would have made for a victorious homecoming, but, since the square happened to be filled with Ori soldiers, they weren't quite as happy about their position. They had opened fire immediately, but they were outnumbered. The soldiers had taken their weapons, luckily they left the holsters in place and failing to notice the grail in Jack's pocket. They had been marched into the town jail, an underground structure with small cells, low ceilings, and barred windows at ground level.

They had been split into two cells, Daniel, Mitchell, Vala and Jack in one cell, Sam, Ba'al and Teal'c in another.

"Hey! Hey you!" Jack yelled at the passing soldiers and those who were guarding them. "Yeah, you! C'mere, I want to steal your keys!" The guard, who had taken a step forward at the initial beckoning, gave an exasperated look and walked away. Leaving them alone with the pair of guards left to watch them.

_This is fun._

_No it isn't._

_Oh c'mon, Sam! Sure it is. At least the pair of us can talk without getting yelled at._

_At least,_ Sam thought half-heartedly.

- - - 3hrs later- - -

_You'd think they'd at least check on us._

_Why, they've got these guards keeping such a diligent eye on us..._

_You don't think they're going to question us at all?_

_They're probably waiting for that Ori-harsesis lady..._

_Orisci? Adria?_

_Yeah, Vala's kid._

_I'm surprised she's not already here._

_Me too._

"Hey, you!" Jack yelled at the guard closest to his door. The man didn't even twitch. "You, in the leather! I'm talking to you! We want to talk to somebody!"

"You will be silent until the Orisci arrives," the man instructed without turning to even look at the captives.

"I don't think so, buddy," Jack replied menacingly. "I think we're gonna talk right now!"

"At least he is this rude to all of his captors, not just me," Ba'al said almost wistfully. Sam couldn't help but chuckle.

_What're you doing humoring him like that?_

_I find it slightly amusing._

_You shouldn't, its Ba'al, fercryinoutloud._

_Sorry, sir. _

_Sorry my ass._ He went back to shouting at the guards, who didn't react.

After another hour of random outbursts, Jack decided to switch tactics. _Sing with me, Sam._ He instructed.

_Sir..._ She protested.

_I could make it an order. Vala, Mitchell, and Daniel all agreed to sing it with me._

_You talked Daniel into singing 'Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer' with you?_

_He's just as bored as I am, we've been here long enough. _

_And this is what you resort to?_

_Unless you've found a means of escape while I was talking to my cell mates..._

_Nope._

_All right then, let's sing._

_Fine,_ she sighed and gave in. "Teal'c, the General wants to sing 'Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer,' do you remember that one?"

"Indeed I do."

"Would you mind singing along?"

"I would not."

"Really?"

"There is nothing else to do, ColonelCarter."

"Point taken." _Ready when you are, sir._ Immediately the General's off-key bellow filled the room, quickly followed by Mitchell's and Vala's, and soon followed by Daniel. Sam and Teal'c joined in a moment later, singing as loudly and obnoxiously as possible. Ba'al looked horrified.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting attention," Sam replied before rejoining the rest of them at ninety-seven bottles.

The guards exchanged annoyed looks at eighty-two bottles, shuffled their feet at forty bottles, and smiled at each other with relief at five bottles, though their faces quickly fell.

"One more bottle of beer on the wall, one more bottle of beer! Go to the store, buy us some more, ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around... Ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-eight bottles of beer!" They were getting tired, but the guards were, slowly but surely, getting worn down. Ba'al was sitting as far away from Sam and Teal'c as possible, his hands pressed firmly over his ears.

"What is this noise!" Adria practically bellowed as she entered the room. Immediately, the occupants became silent.

"What noise?" Jack asked innocently, receiving a death glare from the young woman.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, directing the question at Jack of all those present.

"What do you mean? Why shouldn't we be here? It's a free galaxy you know..."

_Is it wise to provoke her? _Sam inquired.

_I didn't say this was _wise_... Teal'c._ Jack joked back.

_What?_

_Nevermind._

_Be careful, Jack._

_Of course._

"It is _my_ galaxy," she said forcefully. "You will tell me why you are here," Jack found himself about two feet above the ground and against the back wall as though Adria were holding him there by his neck. He coughed and gasped for breath.

"No!" Sam yelled aloud, feeling her CO's pain. The Orisci's control on Jack seemed to falter and he dropped to the ground; breathing deeply. Adria looked confused for a moment and came to look in the cell.

"What did you do?" Adria asked accusingly.

"What?" Sam asked innocently.

"What did you do?" Adria barked.

"Adria..." Vala started.

"Mother," Adria said sharply, cutting the older woman off.

"You're her _mother_!" Ba'al burst, getting identical glares from mother and daughter. Adria's eyes narrowed, she looked at Sam closely and then turned to examine Jack on the other side of the stone wall that separated the cells.

"I remember your deaths," she said simply. They all tensed, Sam and Jack prepared to deny anything the Orisci said while their friends relived the memory, Thor had walked through the 'gate the sadness in his eyes visible even to those who didn't know him very well. Ba'al just seemed curious.

_So do we._ The pair of them thought. Adria leveled her gaze at them; somehow she managed to look menacing at both of them even though they were separated by several feet and a wall.

"Guards, bring them with me," she ordered, motioning to Sam and Jack. The guards that had accompanied her into the small jail opened the doors and removed the indicated persons, slamming the doors shut behind them.

_Well this is fun._

_No it isn't, sir._

_Sure it is._

_No it isn't._

_Better than sitting at a desk._

_I'd prefer the desk._

_Tell you what, when we get back, we'll trade jobs for a week- then you tell me this isn't fun._

Sam didn't have chance to answer because something was happening to the Orisci. The young woman spun around to look directly at Jack's pocket where the grail was still hidden. One of the guards who had been escorting them went to stand behind Jack. _What is he trying to do? Make sure I don't run away? Well don't worry, guy, I won't run, there's no place to go just yet. You can just go back to standing at your little position over there... Oh that's what you're doing!_ Sam chuckled at the conversation the General was having with the unhearing soldier. The soldier had taken Jack's hands and held them behind his back so that the Orisci could reach into the pocket of his fatigues without interruption. It looked like her hand was itching at the prospect of the grail, and that she had been sensing it's presence through her palm.

_Odd,_ Sam thought.

To their surprise, Adria didn't seem to be able to get hold of the grail. She fished around in the General's pocket for a full minute, making Jack incredibly uncomfortable. She finally gave up. "You," she indicated Sam, "take it out of his pocket."

Sam walked over to Jack and put her hand in his pocket. _Under other circumstances..._ he thought. They both smiled. The situation would've been awkward a few weeks ago, but after their weekend together... they'd seen everything there was to see about each other and, though reaching in his pocket was somewhat awkward, it was nowhere near as embarrassing as it would've been previously. After a few seconds, Sam reluctantly withdrew the small red stone.

"Thank you," Adria said, reaching for the stone that Sam was reluctantly holding out, palm almost twitching. She would've resisted more, but there were a half-dozen soldiers surrounding them and they were all pointing their weapons at her and Jack.

_I hate this._

_I'll agree with you there._

Adria didn't seem to be able to get a hold of the stone. Her hand seemed to pass over the surface without being able to actually touch it, or get a solid grip on it. "What is this treachery!" They exchanged a clueless look. "What have you done to the Sangraal?"

_You're just not a very nice person and it doesn't like you._ Jack told her in his mind. "Nothing," he said aloud. Adria glared at him, unbelieving. She turned to Sam, who rose a few feet off the ground and began gagging.

_How the hell does she do this? This isn't very fair._

"We didn't do anything to it! We don't know why it won't work!" Jack began shouting at the Orisci, who only smiled, making a tighter fist. Sam began gagging louder, as though the invisible hand around her throat had tightened. "Stop!" Jack could feel a tenseness in his own throat, the connection between them had an odd way of working. He made to push Adria in an attempt to break her concentration on Sam, forgetting that his hands were being held behind his back. It seemed to work anyways, Adria let Sam fall to the ground and took a few steps backwards, narrowing her eyes at the General.

_What just happened?_ He asked Sam.

_Not sure, sir._ She massaged her throat, taking a few gasping breaths. Adria seemed equally confused. She closed her eyes and the pair of them experienced the worst pain they'd ever felt. It was worse than a pain stick, or a hand device, or even death. It seemed as though their minds were trying to escape, to leave their bodies and go anyplace else just because of the physical pain. They weren't able to scream, but they could hear one another screaming inside their heads. Jack overcame the pain for a brief second, long enough to make an attempt to comfort Sam, but it returned quickly.

They were carried, writhing, back to their cells. Daniel grabbed Jack as he fell from the soldier's arms, Teal'c doing the same for Sam when she was delivered to the cell. The pain still hadn't stopped, and it was only amplified by their connection. Their friends did what they could to comfort them, holding them still to keep them from hurting themselves in their attempts to stop whatever was causing the pain.

"Adria!" Vala called, attempting to stop her daughter from doing whatever it was she was doing . "Adria, stop!"

They opened their eyes simultaneously, brushing away their friends and getting up. They leaned again the barred doors, glaring at the Orisci; Adria had to take a step back. She held an arm out to steady herself, glaring at the pair of them before stumbling away. They couldn't maintain the facade of calm for long. Jack collapsed backwards, landing unceremoniously on Colonel Mitchell. Daniel helped his friend to lay flat; Jack's eyes were pressed shut, blocking everything out.

_I think I'm gonna pass out now._

_Stop it, sir._

_What?_

_You're absorbing my pain._

_I am not._

_I can tell._

_Just let me do it. I'll pass out, you'll feel better. Use the time to figure out how to get us out of here. Help me wake up when its time._

_Thank you._

_Anything..._ He passed out before he could finish the thought.

_Thank you._ Sam repeated. Her mind was clearing and she realized that Teal'c was holding her, keeping her in a comfortable position on the ground and supporting her head. She struggled to sit up.

"Jack!" She heard Daniel's voice from the other cell.

"It's okay, Daniel. He'll wake up when its time."

"What do you mean 'when its time?'"

"Don't worry."

"I'm finding that a little difficult at the moment."

"Fercryinoutloud, Daniel, just settle down!"

"What did you say?"

"Just relax," _I've had him in my head _way_ too long._

"Are you all right, ColonelCarter?" Teal'c asked, helping her into the sitting position she was still attempting.

"Yeah," she knew better than to nod. "I'll be okay in a minute."

"What happened?" Mitchell's voice came through the wall. The guards didn't seem to want to stop them from talking, even though it was clear that they had been ordered to do so.

"She wanted the grail."

"But it's still in his pocket."

"I know, Daniel. She couldn't get it. I'm not sure why. She wasn't too happy about it though," Sam leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and continuing. "She couldn't properly touch it. When she tried... I don't know. It just didn't work. So she tortured us."

"With what?" Teal'c asked, wondering what could leave two seasoned warriors reeling so badly even after the device was removed.

"I'm not sure what she did. It was in our minds... worse than death..." she shuddered.

A few hours later they were still waiting in the cells. It was raining outside and most of the water was coming in through their barred windows. The street even seemed to slant down towards the window, using the jail as a drain. There was almost a centimeter of water on the floor, causing them to stand, keeping as much of themselves dry as possible. Daniel and Mitchell had hauled Jack to his feet and were keeping him upright against the wall.

"Will you be waking him up anytime soon, Sam? This doesn't seem natural..."

"That's because it's _not,_ Daniel. It's not time yet, though."

"When will it be time, there's a lot of water in here."

"Not sure yet."

"What happened to you?" Ba'al asked, curiosity finally overruling his aloofness. Sam sighed, not really wanting to tell him. Ba'al glared from Sam to Teal'c and back, repeating his question. "We have nothing better to do, Colonel. You might as well tell me the story."

"Not here," Sam told him, glancing at the Ori-devoted guards; they had leaned a little closer to her cell, tilting their heads to hear her better. Ba'al narrowed his eyes at her with displeasure, but he didn't press the matter.

After another hour, and another few inches of water on the floor, Sam felt the beginnings of a whopper of a headache at the edges of her mind. _Time to wake up..._ she informed Jack. Closing her eyes, she poked his conscious until he startled awake in the next cell.

"Sam?" He asked aloud.

_I'm here._

_I can't see you._

_I'm in the next cell._

_Oh yeah._

_How's your head?_

_Been better._

_Let me help?_

_No, I'm all right._

_Let me help._ This time it wasn't a question. He complied. Though he didn't like causing her pain the headache was threatening to push him back into the blackness. Sam squeezed her eyes tighter when the headache hit her, groaning aloud.

_Sorry._

_Not your fault._

_Yes it it._

_No._ He didn't fight her, she'd been alter for longer than he had and he was in no mood to fight.

_Fine. Found a way to get out yet?_ His eyes roamed the cell walls and the gate, noticing the water that had saturated his combat boots through to his socks while he was out. _What's with the water?_

_It's raining and there isn't exactly glass in the windows..._

"Jack?" Daniel was asking urgently. Jack had his eyes open and was looking around but he had yet to say anything but his initial outburst.

_Found a way out yet?_ He repeated.

_No, sir. _

_Damn._

_You should probably answer Daniel, he's a little worried._

"Sam? Is he okay?" Daniel's voice had gotten louder, and it sounded like he was shaking Jack lightly.

"Daniel, I'm fine! Stop with the shaking!" Jack said, splashing away from his friend.

"Well you've got to tell someone!"

"I did!"

"Well she should tell the rest of us!" This was directed at Sam.

"Sorry, Daniel, I was just hit with a whopper of a headache and didn't think vocalize a conversation that could be had with less reverberating noises to bother my head," she said sarcastically.

_Wow, I've been in your head a little too long._

_No kidding._

_Hey!_ Sam chuckled.

"This is still very peculiar," Teal'c informed her, watching her chuckle and rub her forehead. She smiled apologetically at him, looking around the cell again for a way out.

It was raining harder. The cold and wet poured into the cells mercilessly. The guards were obviously uncomfortable with the mid-shin water level. They had played a version of rock-paper-scissors and the winner had left to go whine to somebody important.

_We've got to get out of here, my feet are freezing._

_Who makes a prison like this?_

_The kind of people who know how to subtly punish criminals._

_But we're not criminals!_

Their conversation was interrupted when a man from the village appeared in their window. He was wearing a dark hooded cloak and wouldn't speak above a whisper. He leaned close to talk to Sam while Jack made loud conversation with Daniel and Mitchell as a distraction.

"The rain only comes like this when a grail-seeker is imprisoned," Sam made to speak but he held up a hand for silence. "Just let me speak," she nodded submission. "The water will begin flowing into these cells much more quickly when the river rises above its banks, this will be in a matter of hours. When the cells are almost completely flooded you will be able to escape."

"How?" Ba'al asked, joining Sam and Teal'c at the window.

"You there!" The guard said, coming over to yell at them. The conversation in the other cell stopped. "Get away from there!" Panic passed behind the man's eyes and he bolted.

_So much for that._ Jack thought.

_Too bad, at least we got what we did._

_Yeah, time to go swimming. _

The guard was talking on some form of radio, alerting the other soldiers that a villager in a dark cloak was attempting to help the prisoners. The square above them was immediately filled with soldiers.

_I hope he gets away._

_Yeah._

Within minutes the flood waters that had been promised arrived. They rushed into the square and brought mud with them down into the jail. They all stood as far back from the windows as possible, shivering as the cold, dirty water filled the space quickly. The second guard ran out of the room, closing the door behind him..

"Hey!" Mitchell yelled, twitching in the cold water. "Get back here and let us out!"

_He's already gone, dumbass._

_Actually, sir, it sounds like something you'd say._

_Well then why aren't I saying it?_

_Because he already did._

_Shuttup, Carter._

_Didn't say anything, sir. _He gave a little huff but his cell mates let it off as a response to the cold water that was now at knee level. Sam and Jack shared grimaced at the memory of the last time they'd been in an inclosed space filling up with water. That time Thor had come to the rescue.

_C'mon, Thor, now's good!_

_Don't think he's living in the jail cells..._

_A man can hope, can't he._

_If you say so._

_I do._

_Alright then._

They were quiet while they pulled off their heavy things; the holsters and vests, though the vests had nothing in the pockets. They removed their jackets too, even though it really wasn't necessary.

"I hate this," Daniel stated as though he were a teenager saying how much he hates homework.

"I hear ya," Jack responded. Ba'al was looking highly uncomfortable; he'd removed his outer robe and belt and kept glaring down at the rising water threateningly.

They were starting to panic when the water reached waist level. _There's gotta be _some_ way out!_

_I don't see any, sir._

_What about that?_

_What?_

_There's a hole in the ceiling._

_Not on this side... wait... yeah, I see it._

_Do you think that's the way out?_

_I hope so, we don't really have any other options._

_True._ There was nothing to do but wait. Water was pouring in much faster than it could escape under the heavy stone door, though it was escaping nonetheless.

_I hate this._ Sam decided. _I hated it then and I hate it now._

_Well, at least now we know there's air outside and not more ocean._

_Yeah..._

"Do you guys have a plan and you're just not telling us...?" Daniel asked hopefully. Jack pointed up at the hole in the ceiling.

"We're hoping that _that_ will be of use."

"And if its not?"

"Then we're screwed."

"Oh."

Sam pointed out the hole in the ceiling to her cell mates, beginning to tread water. The tension in the room was bordering on unbearable. None of them were having trouble keeping afloat, but the water pouring in was alarming and it churned loudly, making conversation outside of the skull difficult.

_Do you think three people will be able to fit in that hole?_

_Three? Try four over here._

_Yeah but we've got Ba'al. He's not a nice guy. _

_Hey, there's two holes over here!_

_They should've put four people in that one!_

_Hmmm._

_I told you, I hate that hmmmm thing you do._

_I know, it's a habit._

_Hmmm._ He mocked. She would've glared at him if he was in the same cell, but he knew this so it was almost the same as actually glaring at him. The water rose even higher and they were forced to breath out of the air trapped in the holes in the ceiling; the water wasn't deep enough for them to be able to see any farther into the holes yet, but they were hoping that they were deep enough to save their lives. Ba'al took the hole closest to the wall for himself, forcing Sam and Teal'c to share the other one, bobbing up and down, taking turns breathing.

_Are you okay, sir?_

_Yeah, we're managing. You?_

_We're all right so far. Ba'al's got his own hole so we don't have to worry about him being selfish and drowning us just yet. _He chuckled nervously in her head.

_I hate this._

**There ya go, i finally got another chapter up! Sorry about the wait; it's even a little longer than the last one! (yay) okay, please review!**


	17. The Great Escape

The rain was still pouring in through the window, and the level of the water was rising incredibly quickly. _We're almost out of air over here._

_Us too._

_What do we do?_

_Well, that guy said there'd be _some_ way out._

_Yeah, I think he was talking about killing the guard and running._

_Shit._

_You can say that again_

_Shit._

Another minute passed and no solution presented itself. _Sam?_

_Try the grail._

_What?_

_The grail, it has to do something._

_What should I do with it?_

_Don't know. Worth a try though._ She paused._ Oy, no touchy!_

_What?_

_Ba'al's joined us._

_Hands off!_

_He can't hear you sir._

_You should tell him for me. _

_Would, but there's not room left to talk._

_We've got to think of something._

_Try the grail._

_Fine, fine, taking it out of my pocket..._ To their surprise, the stone was glowing and when he brought it into the air, a section of the rock making up the ceiling began glowing the same odd, reddish color. _What the hell is that?_

_Don't care, try touching the stone to it._

_Alrighty..._ A few seconds later the water level in their hole dropped slightly, and the four who had been trapped in the other cell surfaced.

_What happened?_

_The ceiling just kind of disappeared, filled up with water pretty fast though. We swam through and here we are._

_Thank God._

_I'll agree with that._ Jack moved so that he was between Ba'al and Sam, much closer the Sam than Ba'al.

"What happened?" Ba'al asked aloud.

"Grail did something to the rock."

"Do think it will do something to the rock in this tunnel?" Ba'al asked, sounding condescending, as usual. Jack wasn't able to answer, he'd ducked under the water so that Vala and Daniel could come up for breath; remembering her teammates, Sam ducked under similarly, allowing Teal'c and Mitchell to take her spot at the surface. When Jack surfaced again his mind had already taken him down the path Ba'al had suggested.

Holding the stone above his head, he searched the ceiling for glowing red spots. It was there, in the farthest, topmost edge of the hole. _Well that's useful..._

_Could it get any farther away?_

_Well, we just have to wait a few more minutes and we'll be close enough._

_I don't think we should wait, Vala's looking a little pale down here from holding her breath like this. _

_Fine, give me a boost._

_If you say so... _Sam swam down to the bottom of the cell and kicked off the bottom, using the momentum gained from the extra push to get her CO high enough to touch the grail to the rock above, startling Ba'al in the process.

_Nice!_ Jack said when the rock opened above them, revealing a spacious cavern that didn't seem to exist in building visible from the town square.

_This place just gets weirder and weirder._

_Right now I don't care how weird it is, I just want out of this water. It's reminding me of Antarctica..._

_Why is it always Antarctica and freezing cold death situations?_

_Dunno. Somebody hates us._

_Besides the man trying to race you out of the water?_

_Yeah._ Jack easily won the race to the dry cavern, using Ba'al as a ladder to reach the rocky entrance. He used his leverage to pull Sam out of the water after him, holding her close as he helped her out. Once he was sure she was safe in the dark, almost ominous cavern, he turned to pull Vala up. It was true, the alien woman was definetly looking a little worse for wear. He helped her out, pulling her only as close as necessary, not nearly as close as he'd pulled Sam; something Ba'al noticed with a little smile. After the rest of SG-1 were standing in the cavern, Jack looked down at Ba'al, debating whether or not to leave him in the water.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Ba'al had climbed as far up the slick stone walls as possible and was precariously wedged between the sides, he could progress no farther without slipping back into the still rising water.

_You should help him._

_I don't like him._

_Well he doesn't like you._

_I know, he killed me a couple times._

_C'mon Jack, he helped us out with the name thing, might as well get that debt out of the way._

_If you say so- - - if this comes back and bites me in the ass its your fault. _

_Fine. _

Jack leaned over and pulled the former system lord out of the water, pushing him gruffly into the cavern after the others. He stepped inside the cavern after them all, pulling the grail off the rock where it had stuck. The rock immediately closed behind, plunging them into absolute darkness.

"Well this is fun," Vala said sarcastically.

_Got any matches?_

_Ha ha, very funny._

_No really, Sam; got any matches? A flashlight? Some form of light?_

_Nope, it'd be all wet anyways. _

_Clap on._ He tried clapping, and to his surprise, a single torch lit nearby. _Cool!_

_That's just too weird._

_You try it, it's fun._

_Clap on._ She clapped her hands as well and, sure enough, another torch lit itself. The others followed suit, though no more torches lit anywhere nearby.

"Sorry guys. Guess its another Ancient... thing."

"Yeah," Daniel sighed, obviously feeling a bit left out.

"Aw, c'mon, Daniel! Perk up. You can have my torch," Jack smiled and Daniel glared at him but took the torch.

_Does this mean I'm voted off the island?_

_What?_

_My flame is gone, do I get to go home now?_

_What are you talking about, sir?_

_Survivor, Sam, the TV show._

_I don't really have time for TV. You keep sending me on saving-the-world type missions._

_No I don't! It's Hank!_

_Yeah, but you're the one who's in charge of him._

_And you'd rather not go on saving-the-world type missions?_

_Course I like going on saving-the-world type missions. Just saying that they don't leave much time for things like Survivor. _

_Fine._ She chuckled, getting a confused look from Ba'al, and annoyed but understanding looks from the rest of her team. _Clap on._ Jack tried for another torch.

"You've already got one," Morgan Le Fay's voice came from behind them, making them all jump. She was wearing the same white dress she had been in Atlantis, and holding the torch Jack had clapped for.

"I'm sharing," Jack said, crossing his arms over his chest and doing his best to look like a young child about to throw a fit. Morgan only shook her head.

"You certainly took your time finding this place," she commented.

"Well, we were kind of worried about other things..." Jack pointed out.

"Like the raging flood waters coming into our jail cells," Mitchell said, glaring slightly at Morgan, who gave him a little smile in response.

"I expected the pair of you to be quicker."

"Sorry," Jack said.

_Stop it._

_What?_

_Acting like a child._

_Well... it's a defense mechanism._

_Sure it is._

_It _is

_Yessir._

_I hate you sometimes._

_Yeah, but you love me sometimes too._

"Are you two finished yet?" It was Morgan who interrupted though Daniel had been about to.

"Sure," Jack smiled.

"What brings you here?" Sam asked in a truly Jack-esqu manner. _You've been in my head _way_ too long._

_I'm almost ready to agree._ They shared a smile.

"You did."

"How so?" Sam asked conversationally.

"You, obviously, are having a bit of trouble so I volunteered to help."

"What did the others do?" Sam's voice had lost all the playfulness it had held only moments ago, leaving behind her usual, scientific and thoughtful voice tinged with worry.

"Nothing to worry about."

"Morgan..." Jack chastised, surprising himself. Though they were on the same level as she was, she still had seniority, and the pair of them weren't even really ascended. Morgan tilted her head towards them in appreciation for their concern.

"Do not worry about me," she sighed. "You need to move along this passage, it will take you to the stargate. Exiting the tunnel will trigger the 'gate, you must go through as quickly as possible; the Ori are watching the 'gate and there is no time to waste."

"What about Adria?" Vala asked, concerned for her daughter even if she was hellbent on galactic domination.

"I am sorry that the Ori used you to create their Orisci, but nothing can be done now. When this is all over we will see what we can do about returning her to her mother."

Vala shifted but didn't say anything.

"We should go, then," Jack said, jerking a thumb in the direction he knew was out, though he had no idea where the knowledge had come from. Accepting it as another 'gift' from his time as an ascended being. Morgan began fading, and Jack grabbed the torch out of her hand before it faded too, getting a small smile for his wit. He threw the Ancient as mock salute, "See ya later." She inclined her head before vanishing.

"You have very interesting acquaintances," Ba'al commented, following Jack down the dark passage. Sam followed close behind, and Daniel brought up the rear with the final torch.

**Sorry it's so short and nothing really happens... at least they're not stuck in the water anymore! I'll be adding more tomorrow (Wednesday Oct. 4) for sure because my social life went out the window and i'm not going to have _any_ homework (for once)! Might even get two up if i'm really lucky... who knows? Hope you've enjoyed this so far, please R&R i love having a full inbox with the responses! mak:)**


	18. Back to Atlantis

They had been walking through the tunnel for more than an hour and there was no end in sight. _The town wasn't _this_ far from the 'gate._ Jack mumbled again.

_Agreed._

_Ready for a break?_

_Getting there._

_Well I'm there, lets take a rest._

_Sounds good._

The pair of them simultaneously stopped walking, causing the train of people following them to knock into each other and send accusing looks towards the front of the line.

What had started out as a direction to walk in a huge cavern had turned into a narrow passage, barely big enough for Teal'c to walk comfortably abreast. It was obvious that the jaffa was not pleased with the spacial situation.

"How's everybody doing?" Sam asked, going on her tiptoes to look over Ba'al's head.

"Daniel?" Jack called back to check on his friends.

"Oh, just great, Jack. Walking down a long dark tunnel for a few hours is my idea of fun."

"No, your idea of fun is staring at some wall of obscure characters for hours on end... oh! Sarcasm! Good one, Danny," Jack feigned ignorance.

_Would you stop trying to get him all peeved? We're going to be stuck in this tunnel with him!_

_Yeah, but he's all the way at the other end of the line so I can say whatever I want and he can't touch me._ Daniel looked like he would like to hit Jack but Vala answered for him.

"Shuttup, both of you! This is ridiculous," she looked around the dark passageway irritably. "Are we there yet?"

"Yes, Vala, this is exactly where we're supposed to be... welcome to the 'gate!" Mitchell said, uncharacteristically harsh and receiving a slightly hurt look from Vala for it. "Can we just keep walking?" He asked.

"All right," Jack started walking again and reached a corner a few seconds later. "Well, found the exit."

"Thank God!" Daniel called out from around the corner. Ba'al lifted an eyebrow at the expression, but said nothing.

_Running out, remember?_

_Yes._

_Ready, go._

_Going._ Jack set off at a run, bringing the torch with him. Th 'gate began dialing the second he left the mouth of the cave. Outside it was nearly as dark as the inside the cave, the pair of satellites orbiting this particular planet didn't reflect the light of the local sun very well. The air was cool on the skin, and the trees they ran past were dripping with the recent rain. _I hate rain._ Jack commented, nearing the event horizon.

_What about the GDO?_

_We don't have one._

_How will they know to open the iris then?_

_I'm just going to assume that, since Morgan told us to run for it, we'll be okay._

_If you say so. I don't really feel like dying again. _

_Me neither. We just started living again._

She didn't get a chance to respond because Jack had passed through the 'gate. The Ori soldiers guarding the 'gate seemed frozen in place, though their eyes moved around, helplessly watching the former prisoners escape.

- - - - -

"Not again!" Rodney called out, looking down at the console in front of him. Whoever had dialed into the Atlantis 'gate was jamming their shield.

"What is it?" Dr. Weir hurried out of her office after hearing Rodney's complaint.

"The shield won't activate."

"Any sort of IDC?"

"If there was, I wouldn't be worrying about it," he pointed out with a condescending stare. He went back to pushing buttons on his keyboard, trying to get the shield to engage. "Damn it!"

"What?"

"I can't get it to work," the pair of them turned to watch the 'gate nervously. The defense team was standing ready, though there wasn't much they could do if a Wraith dart came through. To their surprise and relief, Jack ran through, quickly followed by Sam. They were not so relieved when Ba'al followed close behind Sam. The rest of SG-1 wasn't far behind. Jack, Sam, and Daniel all carried torches, and they all squinted at their new surroundings, adjusting to the light. "Did you die again?" Rodney called down to them. Jack chuckled and shook his head, Sam looked annoyed, the rest of SG-1 smiled slightly, and Ba'al just looked confused.

"Welcome back to Atlantis," Dr. Weir said, coming down the stairs to properly greet them; she raised an eyebrow towards Jack concerning Ba'al. Jack glanced at the man in annoyance before looking at Sam.

_Why do we always end up here?_

_This is 'home' for the Ancients, this is where they'd have everything set to. _

_Thank goodness this whole thing happened after we established our outpost here._

_I don't think this stuff would've happened if we hadn't._

_Sure it could've._

_If you say so, sir._

_What are we going to do about Ba'al?_

_Stick him in a holding cell._

_Can't I just kill him?_

_You just saved him!_

_Only because you told me to._

_Don't kill him yet._

_Yet?_

_Yet._

_I can live with yet. _Sam sighed irritably.

_I wonder how we even got here... it would've taken one hell of a power surge to jump galaxies like this..._

_Let's not think about it, okay?_

_Well, you don't have to think about it, but I will..._

_Yeah, but if you do I have to listen to it..._

"You two still living in each others heads?" Rodney asked bluntly.

"You could say that," Jack answered for both of them.

"What is this place?" Ba'al asked, looking around with interest. Sam and Jack glared at him.

"Why're you all wet?" Rodney asked, noticing that they were all thoroughly soaked and had stripped down to their simple black t-shirts and green fatigue pants.

"What's _he_ doing here?" Shepphard asked, coming down the stairs with the rest of his team.

"Long story," Daniel mumbled.

"You didn't die again?" Rodney needed to clarify the point.

"Death isn't fun, Rodney, not planning on doing it again any time soon," Jack said crookedly, glancing at Sam. The memories of their deaths were odd things to bear, to say the least.

"So, short version?" Shepphard brought the conversation back to Ba'al.

"Found this Code thing..."

"...went after the grail..."

"...found the grail..."

"...got thrown in prison by the Ori..."

"...Adria got mad at us..."

"...it rained..."

"...a lot..."

"...the cell flooded, but we climbed out..."

"...Morgan visited again and helped us out..."

"...'gate dialed itself..."

"...we ended up here," Sam and Jack told the condensed version of recent events, alternating sentences. "Yeah, that about covers it," Jack shrugged.

"That's really weird," Ronan commented.

"Tell me about it," Mitchell glanced apologetically at his friends.

"Tell me what is going on," Ba'al ordered.

"No," Jack said flatly. Ba'al glared at him. "How about we just lock you up," he nodded towards a pair of soldiers, who came over and restrained Ba'al, leading him towards the holding cells.

"You owe me!" Ba'al shouted back at them.

"No we don't! We just saved your ass!" Jack retorted.

"So... not that it isn't great to see you, but... Why are you here?"

**I know, this is short, and yesterday I promised the posibility of two (my bad)! Wasn't expecting any homework from class today and then, guess what! Plenty of homework to keep me busy... joy. Oh well, its part of the fun i guess... enjoy this chapter, I'll update as soon as I can :)**


	19. Sinking

Before Ba'al was even out of the room, the entire city began to shake. The movement sent all present in the control room to their knees apart from Sam and Jack, who stood frozen in place.

"The hell is going on?" Shepphard asked, attempting to rise to his feet; the colony continued to shake, preventing him from getting up.

Jack and Sam began moving, walking past their friends with distant looks in their eyes. They ignored the queries as they passed the fallen soldiers, walking out of the room.

_-Where are we going?_

_Haven't the slightest idea, sir._

_-Why are we going there?_

_Dunno._

_-Why is everything shaking?_

_Don't know._

_-Jeese, Sam, since when don't you know everything?_

_It might be shaking because the Sangraal is here._

_-Good point._

_See, even if I don't know everything I can come up with a good excuse._

_-Well, then you can stick around for awhile._

_Gee thanks._

He smiled sheepishly at her before looking around. The city had gone dark and they were amazed that they weren't running into things yet.

After a few more minutes of walking, they found themselves in total darkness in a part of the city that hadn't been explored by any teams yet. It was unfamiliar to them, not even ringing any bells from the knowledge the Ancients had left them with. They seemed to have arrived at their destination; there was no longer a weird tugging sensation in their brains telling them where to go.

_-Suppose this is it then?_

_Guess so._

_-So, any ideas yet?_

_Nothing besides the grail. Why don't you get it out, at least?_

_-Sounds good. _He pulled the grail out of his pocket; the little red stone was practically glowing. Its introduction to the air of the room caused a number of things to light up. Something began whirring from under a layer of dust.

_Merlin's quarters?_

_-Sure._

_It'd be nice if Morgan were here, maybe tell us what to do._

_-Yeah, that'd be good._

Morgan appeared then, smiling at them. "Thought you might want help."

"Just thinking about you, actually," Jack smiled.

"I'm sure you were."

"What're we supposed to do?" Sam asked, mind on task. Morgan pointed at the whirring contraption; it didn't stop, but it settled down significantly. Jack walked over, holding the grail in front of him, and began examining the device. Sam joined him a few seconds later.

"You going to help?" Jack asked Morgan after a few seconds had passed without any sudden revelations.

"I am not allowed to interfere."

"You're just allowed to point us in the right direction?"

"Quite literally."

-_I'm hating these rules._

_They _are_ getting a bit annoying._

_-Well, at least we don't have to deal with them just yet._

_Just yet._

_-Let's not think about that part._

Sam smiled at him in response before redirecting his attention to the device below them. _Try it in that little indentation._

_-What little indentation?_

_That one._ She pointed to the little nook on the device she was talking about and he pushed the grail at it, twisting and spinning it around till it fit in place. The whirring immediately stopped, and the city stopped shaking.

The segment of the city they were in seemed to break off from the rest, sinking down beneath the waves. "What's going on?" Jack asked, turning to Morgan, but she just shrugged and disappeared with the shake of her head.

_-Great, just great. Does that mean she doesn't know, or that she can't tell us?_

_Maybe she doesn't know and couldn't tell us if she did._

_-Really not liking their little rule-book._

_Agreed._

There was a single window through which they could clearly see the water as they passed through. Fish, big and small, passed by giving the sinking room wary looks. It seemed like they'd been falling forever when they finally started to see plant life, indicating that they were nearing the bottom.

_-Next time we're here I'm going fishing._

_How are you thinking about fishing _now

_-Sorry, but look at those fish!_

"Ugh," Sam groaned.

After a few more minutes of slow descent, they finally hit the bottom. To their horror, the door to the compartment burst open. Jack held his hand to his head as all the possible ways they could die flashed through Sam's brain.

_-You're too smart for your own good._ She didn't get a chance to respond because the water had stopped a few feet in front of them, the same way the fire had stopped only this time they didn't have to hold up their hands.

_Not smart enough to figure all this stuff out._

_-Well, you're still better at thinking than I am._

_Thank you?_ She wasn't sure if it should be a compliment.

The pair of them walked towards the door, their little protected bubble moving around them. Outside it was incredibly dark, the only light seemed to come from the grail that was still glowing from behind them. What they could see of the ocean floor was dark and tinted with red because their only light happened to come from a red stone. There was a path between the wet plants that were taller than either of them; it led to what could only be described as a hatch on the bottom of the sea.

_-This just gets weirder and weirder._

_You can say that again._

_-This just- - -_

_Shut up, sir._ He smirked at her, and they walked over to the hatch.

- - -

"What the hell was that?" Shepphard asked, finally getting to his feet. Though the city had stopped shaking a few minutes ago nobody had moved for fear of falling down again.

"Where did they go?" Daniel asked, taking a few steps down the hall Sam and Jack had walked down.

"Dr. Weir, you should see this!" One of the technicians from the control center called down to them.

"What is it?" Weir ran up the stairs and looked up at the map of the city. It looked as though a small chunk of the city, located at the far wing, had broken off and fallen into the ocean. Inside, two lights alerted them all that there were two people in the room that was sinking deeper each second.

**So I went back and read some of the other chapter while trying to figure out what to put in this chapter and I managed to confuse myself about who was thinking what while Sam and Jack 'talk'. Therefore, you'll have noticed, I put dashes (-) in front of everything Jack thinks when it gets to be a long thing of thought-dialogue-stuff. If it helps, let me know, if it doesn't, let me know; we'll figure something out :)**

**Also should apologize for the wait, had a bit of writers block - thanks much. mak:)**


	20. Big ol' Spacegun

_- I'm confused._

_I know, sir._

_- Well…_

_Just let me think._

_- We should have brought Aspirin._

_Probably._

_- Alright, then. You think. I'm going to explore._

_You do that._

_- Thank you, I think I will._

Sam rolled her eyes and watched a he set off down one of the water-filled hallways. They had opened the hatch with surprising ease considering the pressure of the depth. Instead of thinking about the fact that they should still be standing outside, Sam had switched to thinking about what they had found inside.

Water had rushed in with them, filling the space quickly. This meant that there wasn't much space down there to explore, or maybe there was another hatch somewhere that was keeping the water out of the rest…? As it was, the water was disappearing by the second. The hatch had closed behind them and a quiet humming sound had filled the space around them. Sam had suggested that it was some sort of a pump humming while it removed the water, but Jack had decided that it was more ominous, therefore warranting a good look-around.

- - - - -

"What's going on down there, Rodney?" Weir asked for the third time that minute. Rodney turned around irritably and gave her a look.

"I would know _sooner_ if you would stop asking me," then turned back to his work. Elizabeth gave him her own 'look' before turning to go and look for Shepphard.

"Hey, Elizabeth," he greeted her as she walked into the commissary.

"John," she acknowledged, grabbing an apple and joining him. He was alone at his table, the rest of his team and SG-1 were still talking to Ba'al. "Why aren't you with your team?"

"Well, I got all the answers I need, but they felt the need to stand there and glare at him for awhile."

"Oh."

"Any progress on Rodney's part?"

"No."

- - - - -

_- I found another hatch, Sam._

_Go ahead and open it, I'll be right there._

_-What about all that stuff in that room?_

_Nothing worthwhile. It's mostly just disassembled prototypes. There's a computer that I'd like to have a look at later on, but the water has it on safe-mode; it won't turn on till the pumps have finished._

_- Lucky you._

_Yes, sir. What did you find?_

_- A hatch._

_Care to be more descriptive?_

_- Well, there's not really anything else I can say about it… It's- hatchlike. Exactly like the one we came through… there's no water left in here, so we could probably open it without disturbing whatever doohicky's he's got stashed in there for you._

Five minutes later, they were both standing on the other side of the newfound hatch.

_- Is that what I think it is?_

_Yes, sir._

_- Wait, how would you know what…_

_Sir…_

_- Oh, right._

_Why me?!_

_- What?_

_Oh, nothing._

_- If you say so._

_Yeah._

_- So this is an uber-spacegun?_

_Looks like it._

_- Sweet._

- - - - -

"Oh, no. What's that? That can't be good!" Rodney said, rushing to find the rest of his team. "Elizabeth!" He found them all just outside of Ba'al's cell.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Why'd you all turn off your radios?"

"We didn't…" Shepphard said.

"Then why couldn't I contact you?"

"Maybe that whole shaking thing affected them," Vala suggested.

"Sure, okay, anyways… We have a problem," he looked at each of them before continuing. Though there were many raised eyebrows, nobody said anything. "The dots on the map that we assumed were General O'Neill and Colonel Carter disappeared."

"They're dead?" Ronan asked bluntly.

"Again?" Daniel put forward, smiling.

"Why're you smiling, your friends could be dead!"

"I sincerely doubt it."

"Y'know, sometimes I am truly glad that I live a galaxy away from you people, you're very weird."

"And you're not?"

"Point taken."

- - - - -

_- Any progress?_

_Not really. _

_- Well, this place is kind of old…_

_I have nothing against old things._ She smirked at him and he blushed, getting the picture.

_- So… any progress?_

_No. _Her tone was dry and he got the message: Shut up. _We need a ZPM_. She informed him almost twenty minutes later.

_- I know where to find one of those…_

_Would you mind going and making one?_

_- Why can't you?_

_I have to fix these wires. They're old._

_- What's wrong with old things?_

She smirked. _They get tired easily. _He gave her an indignant look. _I can fix it pretty easily though…_

_- I'll say you can._

_ZPM?_

_-Fine. _

_Thank you, Jack._

_-I'll be back in a few. _He gave her a peck on the cheek before leaving her to her work.

- - - - -

"General!" Weir said, surprised when Jack appeared next to them. They were all still talking in Ba'al's prison chamber. Ba'al was looking disgruntled, though he perked up, interested, when Jack climbed up from a balcony visible through his window. Jack wasn't even wet.

"Jack!" Daniel said, smiling widely.

"We thought you were dead!" Teyla said, looking him over for injuries.

"Well, you know me, I'm rather difficult to kill," he said, patting his chest.

"Not in my experience," Ba'al said, turning his back to them to avoid the dirty looks.

"I don't like you," Jack reminded him.

_ZPM!_ Sam reminded him. The underwater lab was quite a bit creepier when one was alone in it.

"Right," he said, turning tail and jogging toward the room where the ZPM technology was kept.

"What?" The group he left behind asked, following him out. Daniel and Rodney managed to keep up, the rest of the group guessing where they were headed and following at their own pace.

"Wow," Daniel said upon entering the room. Jack already had the thing doing. He was pushing buttons as though he had been doing it his entire life.

_-How many do we need?_

_At least two._

_-At least?_

_Yeah…_

_-Any preference?_

_Why don't you bring three?_

_-Sounds good._

"What's going on, Jack?" Daniel asked after his friend had made two ZPMs and had yet to give any sign that he would be stopping soon.

"We found this big ol' spacegun in an underwater lab. Sam says she needs at least two ZPMs to power it."

"Two?" Rodney asked.

"At least?" Daniel asked. "You mean she's not sure?"

"She's not unsure, she's just having trouble with the wires."

"I could help," Rodney suggested.

_NO!_ Sam's voice reverberated in his skull, Jack winced before replying. "I don't think so, Dr. McKay."

"Why not?"

_Because I don't like you?_ Sam suggested.

"Because you can't get down there," Jack said.

_- You could be a little nicer… _He could tell she was raising an eyebrow and trying her best to keep here thoughts from him. Smiling, he continued with his work, allowing the machine to shut off after he'd finished the third ZPM.

"Wow," was all Daniel had to say. The pair of doctors trailed after him like a pair of sick puppies when he made his way back to the balcony he'd emerged from the water near. He had a ZPM in each hand, the third tucked under an elbow.

"What's going on, sir?" Mitchell asked, keeping up this time.

"We found a spacegun," Jack said, smiling over his shoulder before jumping off the balcony.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c said, rushing to the railing. Jack was waist deep in water, though none of the water was actually touching him; a force shield was keeping it away from him. It looked like he was standing on air in the ocean. He was smiling at his confused friend.

"I'll be back," he promised, imitating the terminator. Closing his eyes and wrinkling his forehead in concentration, he slowly sank into the water, the bubble keeping the water a good two feet away from him on all sides.

"Weird," Shepphard mumbled to himself. His companions nodded, wondering what they were supposed to be doing while they waited.

- - - - -

_- Got 'em._

_Thanks._

_- Not a problem_

_Didn't think it would be._

_- So. This place is creepy?_

_A bit._

_- Fear not! _

_Wasn't really all that worried. _He mock-scowled at her, handing her the first ZPM and placing the second ZPM in the slot she pointed to. The panel in front of Sam began glowing. A bar appeared, slowly filling with light. Very slowly.

_- And that is…?_

_It's charging. We can't do anything with it till the bar is full._

_-How long will that take?_

_At least another twenty minutes._

_-Did you have any ideas of how we could spend that time?_

_I was thinking about going and having a look at the prototypes out in that other room…_ She stopped in her tracks, a shiver running up her spine. His eyes had darkened with lust just as his thoughts had. _Sir… not in here…_

_- Why not?_

_This is a lab!_

_- Babies are made in labs all the time._

_Babies?_

_- Ignore that._

_Plural-_ Her thoughts were cut off when an extremely pleasant distraction came into view. She smiled at him. _At least let's go in the other room so we don't accidentally set off the spacegun._

_- Sounds good._

They barely made it through the hatch.


	21. Lookit what we got!

"What's that?" Weir asked, looking out over the balcony. The water was churning and bubbling; it was certainly not normal. "Rodney?" She turned to Rodney who looked just as confused as everybody else but was trying to hide it.

"Just wait," he said, pulling a device out of his pocket and pointing it at the disturbed water.

"Let me out of here this instant!" Ba'al yelled upon seeing the bubbles. He had moved as far away from the disturbance as possible, pressing himself against the other cell wall.

"It's giving off some sort of energy… I can't get any clear readings…" Rodney mused, talking more to himself than the others.

"Sam, Jack?" Daniel asked a moment later. The space gun had come fully out of the water. The top looked like a satellite dish, a Star Trek worthy laser beam generator, if you will. The thing was black and very wet, which was understandable. It looked like it might be made out of naquadah, and Teal'c would confirm it. The dish served as the ceiling for a spherical _thing_ underneath it, complete with portal-type windows. The black outer surface was covered with small dents, when looked at closer it could be seen that they were grips to pull panels open to adjust the device manually. Through the portals, Daniel had spotted Jack and Sam at the main computer console, or rather, Sam at the console and Jack poking at a flashing screen. Jack's mouth twitched into a smirk and Sam's eyes glinted with humor as she rolled them, making Daniel smile himself.

The sphere continued to rise, eventually coming to hover a few feet above the railing of the balcony the teams were standing on. They all stepped away, heat rippling off the dark metal. A few seconds later, one of the panels slid away and Sam and Jack jumped out, smiling.

"We found a big, honkin' space gun!" He grinned. Sam glanced at him sideways, smirking herself. "Okay, fine. Sam found a big, honkin' space gun and she let me drive!" Sam glanced at him again. "Okay, Sam found a big, honkin' space gun and let me come along for the ride." She was the one to grin that time.

"'Big honkin' space gun?'" Rodney asked, approaching it. He wasn't able to reach it, there was some sort of force shield preventing him from getting within three feet of the thing. "What the hell?"

"It's got a weird security system," Jack said with a sigh. "It picks who rides in it and we haven't figured out how to turn it off yet."

_Liar._

_- What? You'd prefer I tell him that you don't like him so you told it not to let him in?_

_Not at all. I didn't say I _cared_ that you lied to him, I was just…_

_- Yeah, yeah, shut up already._

They smiled slightly at each other, wiping their faces clean before Rodney noticed.

"Tell me about it," Rodney prompted, his hands itching to be near it.

"Well," Sam started. Jack rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Where's he going?" Rodney asked, he'd been hoping to get both perspectives on the new technology.

"Commissary," Daniel answered, smiling.

"How would you know?" Rodney asked.

"It's Jack," Daniel said, raising an eyebrow. Rodney narrowed his own eyebrows, not getting it.

_- You've got a half an hour before I want to bring that thing back to the Milky Way and test it on the Ori._

_Starting big, eh?_

_- Well, the manual _did_ say it was meant for the big stuff… We could try it on Ba'al if you want…?_

_How about we put Ba'al on the Ori ship and then blow them both to hell?_

_- But we already blew hell up._ Sam chuckled aloud.

"What?" Rodney asked, as far as he was aware she was listening to his questions about the gun.

"What?" Sam asked, head jerking up. Daniel and Teal'c both rolled their eyes, or at least Daniel did and Teal'c just raised an eyebrow, but that was rolling eyes in Teal'c-speak.

"You laughed. Was one of my questions funny…?"

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't listening," she shrugged. "The General was just reminding me that we already blew up hell…" The rest of SG-1, minus Vala and Mitchell who hadn't been there, chuckled in acknowledgement.

"That was you?" Ba'al asked before lapsing back into silence at the glares he received from his guards.

- - -

An hour later, Jack and Sam were back in the control pod preparing for their flight. They had been surprised to discover that the small thing had faster than light speed capabilities. It had been decided that the pair of them would pilot the pod to a planet known to have a Wraith hive ship in orbit. They would be testing the weapon out on hive ship before reporting back to Atlantis. They'd decided that they'd rather test it before challenging the Ori.

Three hours after their departure, Sam and Jack were back with smiles on their faces. "Congratulations, Atlantis, you have one less hive ship to deal with," Jack said. Everybody smiled for a moment before Weir got a worried look on her face.

"Do they know who attacked?"

"They haven't a clue what hit them," Sam assured her. The blackness of the naquadah the pod was made out of made it incredibly hard to see it even when the cloak wasn't on.

"They weren't even around long enough to send a message to their buddies, either," Jack assured them. They had only fired once, and before the Wraith had even been aware of their presence.

They loaded up on supplies for the ride to the Milky Way. It took the Deadaleaus two weeks to make the journey and it would take the pod at least that long. Intergalactic travel wasn't exactly its primary function; unfortunately, it was too big to fit through the 'gate by about a foot. The other members of SG-1 offered to ride along, but Sam and Jack refused, saying that it would just be easier if it was just them. Their excuse was that if anything went wrong, they were the ones with the special abilities, and on the good side of the Ancients.

_So…_ Sam 'said' after a few hours. They'd set off right away, leaving their teammates to figure out what to do with Ba'al.

_- So._ Jack responded.

_I'm going to start going through the database._

_- I'm going to take a nap._

Slightly disappointed, Sam began scrolling through the information.

_Are you mad at me?_ She asked after about five minutes. Jack was pretending to sleep, but he couldn't fool her, and he knew she had wanted him to suggest other plans of action than reading the Ancient data, most of which was already buried in their subconscious.

_- Why would I be mad at you?_

_I don't know. Why did you say you were going to sleep and then not?_

_- Well, its kind of hard to sleep when my mind is linked to somebody thinking through every aspect of our relationship and hitting all the triggers on our suppressed memories at the same time._

_Jack._

_- I'm not mad at you, Sam._ He paused. _I just didn't want you to feel like I was pressuring you into anything._

_You, of all people, know that I don't feel pressured._

_- It's better to hear it confirmed than to just kind of- 'know.'_

_Fine,_ she smiled. _I love you, Jack O'Neill, I would follow you anywhere and everywhere. I'm ready for anything you are, I'll do anything you do, and don't ever tell me not to._

He cocked his head slightly to the side.

_- But I'm, technically, still your CO…_

_I think you know what I mean._

_- Love you, Sam._ He sighed, taking her into his arms.

_You too._

Sam didn't end up looking at the data until their third day of the journey, when Jack was tired enough to sleep through her techno-babble laden brain waves.

**I know, I know: it's extremely short. I'm sorry! I'm kind of finishing this up and I'm not sure how I want to do it yet. I promise I'm working on it! (ideas welcome)**


End file.
